Being Comfortable with the Uncomfortable
When was the last time you thought of high school? It is a time that is often reminisced upon as “the good old days” or “the best years of your life”. For some, this may be a reminder of the years that have passed since their graduation from high school but to others it might be something that crosses their mind frequently. For me, it wasn’t too long ago when it was all I ever knew and naively believed to encompass my entire world. Approximately six months after graduating, I have to say, my world has definitely expanded and everything I once valued and considered important has changed as I embarked on this journey as a university student.
Graduation is an event that pretty much every year twelve dreams of. Saying that the thought of leaving school was something I really looked forward to would definitely be an understatement that simply could not express how I actually felt. Don’t get me wrong, I loved school, but I was ready to move on. I was ready to be a mature adult tackling the real world or at least I thought at the time.
As I suspected, graduating was a great experience but what they didn’t tell me was the possibility of having a quarter life crisis, absolutely having no idea of who I really was or even going down with a serious case of “missing my friends” after it.
After the initial feeling of freedom, a feeling of being lost, unmotivated and downright miserable settled in. It was like I had no control of my life at all. You see what happened here was that I got a taste of the real world and let’s just say I didn’t quite like it.
Here and there I found my soul singing and quite frankly enjoying life, but I didn’t quite find solace until having a breakdown over a tort’s assignment. It was in that moment of feeling defeated and letting my torts unit win, that I realised why I was doing what I was doing. Like many of you, I have chosen to study law not only to acquire knowledge but to make a difference in the world. Studying and practicing law, in all its glory can be a great “flex” but I believe it also makes you realise the importance of making the world a better place. Throughout your life and career, you are going to be challenged and tested and you are going to be out of your comfort zone more often than not. Sometimes the only way to get through life is to learn to ride the waves and to get comfortable with the uncomfortable.
Life is like an ocean. It has its highs and lows and the current is more than likely to pull you in all kinds of directions that you don’t see coming. Sometimes you will have your head under water and sometimes there is nothing you can do about it but to just go with the flow. I have come to realise that swimming against the current isn’t the best use of my energy but channelling it to find who I am and my hopes and dreams would be much more worthwhile. No matter how hard it will be to navigate the choppy waters or how much I get thrown around and battered in the sea, I know that it will be worth it. Because I know that fighting for the life I want to live is worth it. And that means that I have to have faith in myself, trust in the process and I have to get comfortable with the uncomfortable.
Getting this degree isn’t going to be easy. Knowing me, I am likely to leave assignments to the last minute, have many breakdowns and possibly have another existential crisis. But I hope I learn to be a tad more organised and I continue to grow as a person. I now know that it is all worth it and realising that has made it all the more easier.
So, when you find yourself feeling a bit lost, don’t worry. Take some time to find who you are, what matters to you and what you want to live for. Take it from a first year, it’s going to be okay.
Article written by Chloe
This article appeared in the Torts Illustrated New Decades, New Horizons (2020) Publication