BY ERICA GUSTAFSON, OPINION EDITOR
When asked about a person’s biggest fear, most people might say heights, spiders, snakes, the ocean or a long list of things that can send shivers up and down their spine. They can be things that make a person anxious or even run away in panic.
In all of these frightening things, there might be one thing among all others that can scare you down to your core, the future.
I know that it may sound corny and even exaggerated, but let’s be completely honest. It is completely understandable to be scared about the future ahead. In all honesty, I am completely terrified about the potential future that lurks outside of my door each day.
In the blink of an eye, I am a senior less than a year away from graduating with my undergraduate degree. With my degree comes all of the decisions of what I want my future to entail. Do I want to continue my higher education to complete a master’s degree? What types of jobs do I want to apply for? Where do I want to go? How am I going to pay off my college debt?
Though not all people have to deal with these types of concerns, these questions play through my mind over and over again daily.
This type of constant panic has been a part of my life since I entered high school as an anxious freshman looking for a place to fit in. I remember the first meeting I ever had with my guidance counselor. I walked into her office with a nervous hesitation to my voice as she asked a list of questions regarding what I wanted in the next four years of my life.
Though she calmed me down to the point where I was no longer afraid, just nervous, other students might not have that settling atmosphere.
I recently read a 2019 article on Psychology Today by Nick Luxmoore, a counselor at King Alfred’s College in the U.K., about “Why Young People Fear The Future.”
Luxmoore stated, “Caught between the past and the future, some find themselves panicking, regressing, refusing to take responsibility and insisting that their parents and teachers should still be looking after them, should be making things easier. Then they’re accused of behaving like children and shamed for not facing the future with unbounded confidence and desire.”
Don’t mistake things. At least for me, I greatly appreciate the adults in my life who supported me and encouraged me that I should not worry about the future. However, I see how it can be a little stressful when adults who we are supposed to look up to for guidance and support blame us as young adults for not being prepared enough.
Luxmoore stated it perfectly saying, “The future becomes both a promise and a threat.”
The future can be a wrecking ball or a golden staircase that stands behind the curtain of time. You never know what is going to hit you until you reach that moment.
The thing above all is that it is perfectly okay to not know. If you dwell on the idea of the future hitting you hard, you may not be able to move forward towards achieving your goals. It is all in how you look at it.
It is okay to be cautious of the future ahead, but don’t lose sight of the steps in front of you. It is okay to not know.
