Leap of Faith & New Beginnings
“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.” I’d be lying if I said I knew no one who was afraid of change, especially when starting somewhere new. These are my first years of adulthood. I’m turning 20 this year and already halfway through my undergrad studies. I moved more than two hours away from my small home city, plunged myself into unknown new freedom, and (somehow) balanced my studies, personal life, and social life. Across my limited years, I have come across the same predicament when I’m too alone with my thoughts: I have no idea how I got here. I don’t know what I’m doing sometimes and I certainly don’t know what I will be doing after. Even when I did all the work of studying to get here, it feels like I wasn’t as smart or as ambitious as I made myself seem. Everything feels false (if that makes any sense). Does that sound familiar? It leaves me, and many more, feeling like frauds who could get caught any second now. This uncertainty leaves a looming pressure to have things figured out before some invisible societal timer stops ticking. It worked for past generations, so why isn't it working now? Let me hold your hand when I say this: we may never figure things out because things won’t always work in our favour. Life is unpredictable and, on an unfortunate occasion, oblivious to our shortcomings that change our monotonous routines. I believe the most interesting people are the ones who don’t entirely know what they’re doing. Their spontaneity is somehow so calming. They live for the moment and make the most of it, trusting that the way things will turn out will be okay in the end. We should take something from them for those who also feel like imposters. Learning to put our worries down gives us a greater opportunity for ourselves to expand our horizons. The doubt in ourselves that forms our fraudulent perception is limiting what we know can be done. We may not know how we got here, why we’re doing certain things right now, or why events and opportunities came into our lives anyways. However, that shouldn’t stop us from trying to see where it goes. Unfortunately, it might be easier said than done. Starting can be the scariest part for some because there is no way to guarantee success until it happens. Even if that is the case, it’s better to try and know than to never find out at all. The core mentality I have kept, and heavily advise, is if not now, when? How will we ever find out it will work unless we go out there and try? I surprised myself when I plucked up the courage to do something I wanted to do and it led to more than a successful result; I found myself in a community of fellow creative people who are equally as passionate. Perhaps it was an act of spite against my own doubts but it remains a reminder that we have so much potential as individuals and a collective in society. In spite of those days where we can’t even move from our beds, we have all the time in the world to choose us and how we want to try. As I’m writing this, I’m already wondering what could happen tomorrow. Even when things feel like they are falling apart and I might be caught for what I am, a part of me knows that whatever happens next will come and it will be taken in stride. So do the thing you have always wanted to do, go to that place you’ve always wanted to try, or start that hobby you’ve been thinking about. Because, if not now, when?
