'"Welcome to the real world," she said to me, condescendingly. "Take a seat."' -John Mayer
I was sitting in seventh grade English, sweating slightly as the May sunlight beat down on my back through the windows. All around the room, my classmates sat, some chatting quietly while others sprawled their upper bodies over their desks in complete boredom and exhaustion. Those who were conscious casually eyed my teacher as she slowly rose from behind her massive oak desk. I don't know if I have enough years behind me to say that it was "back in the day", but we used to bring our papers to class in the morning, instead of submitting them at 11:59pm online, but it was the day of collection. I watched as my teacher slowly rounded the corners of our table groups, pointing out the minor mistakes of missing names and lack of staples before she swiped them up and took them away to torture with her spirit-crushing grading process. As I scanned the room for something interesting to look at, my eyes fell on one boy sitting way in the back corner. He had his hands folded rather stiffly over his desk, and his head was bent down, Justin Bieber hair falling over his eyes to where I couldn't see them. No part of his body was moving but his left leg, which was bouncing up and down at such a spastic rate, I thought his body may overheat. His lips were moving slowly, and looking back at it now, I bet you he was praying the Act of Contrition. I stared until the teacher came to tower over his desk, her large red beaded earrings swinging slightly.
That's when I saw it. There wasn't a paper to be found on his desk.
I considered bowing my head and praying for him, but I was stopped right in the middle of "My God" by the most infuriating pet peeve I've ever encountered in all my seventeen years of living and breathing.
"Things won't work like this when you get out into the real world." my teacher said to the boy.
I felt my mouth fall open.
All thirteen years of what I thought was life, and just now I'm being told I haven't even seen the real world? If this wasn't the real world, then where the heck was I? Had this all been a dream? Was I being held in some sort of virtual reality as they prepared me to face what existed "out there"?
Was waking up on Christmas morning with my brother jumping on my bed, whispering in my ear that Santa had come with huge presents, not the real world?
Was failing to pass the multiplication time-test over and over again, not the real world?
Was learning my family was moving, and having to say goodbye to all my best friends, not the real world?
Was walking in the doors of middle school with absolutely no familiar faces in view, not the real world?
Was getting rejected during "fun" get-togethers by the older girls on my dance team, not the real world?
Was failing my first math test at my new elementary school, not the real world?
Of course it was the real world. It's all the real world. Every living, breathing moment we have in this life, all happens in the real world.
The most important point is that we go through in life in stages for a reason. Developing in stages allows us to gain the knowledge and skills we need to be successful in the next, and though we may not always know what lies ahead, we have the confidence to know we can face whatever comes our way.
The real world isn't something we reach when we're kicked out of our college apartment by our landlord, with a diploma in one hand and a bag in the other. It's not the monster at the end of our tunnel we must battle with everything we muster from our childhood experiences. Every moment of our life happens in the real world, and our battles are fought along the way. In elementary school, we must learn how to deal with that one snotty jerk who never wants to share. In middle school, we must learn how to manage our increasingly busy schedules to still succeed in our work. In high school, we must learn to accept ourselves for who we are as people, no matter how difficult or isolated that makes us feel at times. The problems we face as children seem just as impossible as the ones that face us in adulthood, but as we grow, the more equipped we become to face what threatens us in the moment.
The best news is, we don't have to fear the future. Being scared of the unknown that forever lies ahead is a waste of time and energy. The greatest comfort comes from knowing you'll never encounter a challenge you cannot endure, or a struggle you aren't prepared to face. God designed life to push you out of your comfort zone and into the dark, but never without the intelligence to find your way out to the light.
Never allow someone to make you feel small for not knowing what you haven't learned yet, and in turn, never look down on those younger or less experienced for not understanding what you do.
Not knowing is singlehandedly the most beautiful part of life. It shows us what we have yet to understand. Learning gives life purpose. If we run out of things to learn, we run out of purpose. That's just the real world, and you're very lucky to be living in it.
"The world is ours
But for a flash
And you are not allowed to be anybody else
Control what you can
Confront what you can't
And always remember how lucky you are to have yourself.
Unaware of where I'm going
Or if I'm going anywhere at all
But I know I'll take the leap
If it is worth the fall
So long as the blood keeps flowing
I'll set a sail and swim across
I'm not looking to be found
Just want to feel (un) lost."
-John O' Callaghan V
