Of fear and flight

(You will learn quickly, never fear.)

On the verge of graduation, I've spent a lot of time speculating about this concept of learning. At this point I have been in school for almost 17 years. At BARELY 22 (happy birthday to me yesterday) this is the majority of my life. Hmm, seems like it's pretty important, right? 

But with all those years of school, you'd think we would be better prepared for life.  

Maybe I was absent the day we all went over how to heal a broken heart or what to do when someone close to you falls ill or dies. I might have been at the dentist when they taught us how to show compassion for someone who doesn't know the meaning of the word. And I was probably daydreaming when we were informed that procrastination will get the better of you, but only if you let it. 

I realized early on that after a certain point in your life, you have to push yourself. Eventually, there are no teachers, professors, advisors– even parents– being that gentle push we all have grown so accustomed to. 

And that's where the scary part comes in: where we run directly at that cliff, everyone cheering us on, hoping we do well, supporting us in this (literally) giant leap– and then, just before you're feet leave the ground everyone goes silent and you realize it: you're on your own. You can hesitate, turn back, and slink back into a life that you know is nothing like the one that's beyond that cliff, OR, you can commit, forget all fear, and pray to God that you hit the ground running because as soon as your feet leave the ground there is no turning back whatsoever. 

Maybe this fear and this learning thing are tied more closely together than we all thought. After all, School House Rock taught us all that "Knowledge is Power!" and all that good stuff.

So here's to fear and to learning from it and to learning and fearing what we still have yet to learn.