Some say to survive it, you need to be as mad as a hatter

Today, I realized how shielded and terribly lucky being a student (or child in general) is. Responsibility and commitment don’t mean a thing until they actually come with real consequences. The label of a student makes everything so much more forgivable, mistakes often attributed to the innocence and ignorance of age. That too prevents us from beating ourselves up after every mistake made. It is kind of a given that children make mistakes, isn’t it?

And then we grow up and out of the immunity of age. We feel raw, exposed and vulnerable. Every mistake, even the small ones, seems so jarring and inexcusable, because they can no longer be wiped off with a detention or a letter of repent. There are the smirking colleagues waiting for you to fall, the kind ones who shower you with empathy and understanding that ironically cuts your skin even more.

We soon find a new skin to cover this naked vulnerability. Maybe it is the insight that things are often not that bad in retrospect, and might not even matter in the greater scheme of life. Perhaps it is the moment of epiphany when one realizes life is not about external affirmation or vain achievements. It takes years for some and a lifetime for others. I’m not even sure if it exists but I get a certain comfort when I see my parents unflinchingly rejecting the steak that has not been cooked to perfection while I gaze at the floor awkwardly. It convinces me that there are things that I might not know how to do yet, but that somehow things will fall into place.

I think it comes when you realize that people don’t in fact care about you as much as you think they do. It probably helps too when you have had your reports and presentations ripped down to pieces multiple times. You will probably cry your eyes out and pronounce yourself the biggest idiot the first time. But you learn to let go after maybe 2, 3 or idk nth times... and from then on, it will never get to you again.

Finally, you are invincible.

Credits: Tumblr