THE SCARIES

Today is Monday, a generally dreaded day. However, I am happy that today is Monday because it marks my first full week back from vacation. Each time I stray from my daily routine, I always find it comforting to once again return to it. The simple actions of waking up, making my own breakfast, doing my skincare routine, and even writing this blog post — It feels safe and allows me to schedule time to work towards my goals. Still, I know that as July proceeds, we get closer and closer to starting school again which brings with it the familiar “scaries”. The Sunday scaries, or the school scaries, or whatever else is causing that unwarranted dread we all experience.

Talking to my peers, it seems like no one is excited about the prospect of returning to school. I vividly remember being a young child being so ready to go back to my friends, new classrooms, and new school supplies by the time July came around. I was the kid who loved school, who could not sleep all night in anticipation of the first day. Now, things have changed. Like many, I also share the scaries of having to face numerous assignments, college applications, IB assessments, and the people I have not spoken to all summer. But, I have also recently come to acknowledge that most of the time, the problems we have simply come down to the way we think about them. If we wake up every Monday morning and go to school or work, why do we feel the same anxiety each time Sunday evening rolls around?

I believe a mindset shift is all it takes. Instead of thinking “I have to go to school/work”, start thinking “I get to go to school/work”. It is so easy to start looking at life in a pessimistic way, especially when it can seem so prosaic. Zooming out our perspective though, can allow us to find the beauty in the things we fear. When I consider the true purpose of going to school day in and day out, I have to simplify it: I am there to learn. There is so much that goes on besides that core purpose. We begin focusing on tests, grades, and drama, and while performance is important, it is most important to find gratitude in what we are able to experience. I get to go to school every day, receive a well-rounded education, have teachers who I can rely on, and see people who love and support me no matter what. Yes…the 7:30AM start time is not ideal, and sometimes the stress feels unbearable, but if we think about all the ways going back to school will add to our lives, we can minimize the ways it seems “scary”.

Life ebbs and flows. I know that next year at this time, I will be jumping to start school — to move out of the house, meet a world of unexplored people, and find independence in a fresh start. I also know that after a while I will once again begin to routinely dread certain aspects of the day-to-day. Whether it is an early Monday morning class, or a nine to five desk job, there will always be obligations that we can instead view as opportunities. All the scaries we have in life build discipline and character. I once dreaded my weekly piano classses with a hostile teacher, but they taught me the basics of music, which I have molded to a shape that better suits me. I dreaded swim lessons in the cold pool at age five, but it allows me today to swim in the ocean without any apprehension. And, I know that the first year I have ever dreaded going back to school, will teach me how to become a more focused student with a passion for learning rather than scoring.

Happy Living xx

“Some people grumble that roses have thorns; I am grateful that thorns have roses.” -Alphonse Karr