[ photo: Gene Kelly in Little Girls of Rochefort ]
After telling my co-workers how stressed I was and didn't get how they weren't as worried as I was every day. They gave me a simple answer: the older you get, the less you worry about the details of work.
As you get older, you will accumulate more things to care about, things that will matter more to you than data on spreadsheets. You will learn that the world won't collapse when things don't go right. Actually, in many cases, as you lose sleep about the minutiae, the solution will present itself tomorrow anyways.
I had always thought the answer was quite the opposite. That our lives should be centered on our jobs, that our work defines us and we should always strive for perfection. But as those wiser than me advised, our work really is important, but it is certainly not everything. We don't always have to take it so seriously. In fact, when we focus so much on the little things, we miss the bigger picture.
A post on Dear Linette blog featured a letter Lisa Ling wrote to her younger self. I found the letter really honest and sweet how her thoughts completely shifted from when she was a teenager.
A photo posted by First Lady Michelle Obama (@michelleobama) on
I've been very blessed to have had so many access to education growing up. I was fortunate to start my learning young, when I went to a cool preschool in a building that was constructed in the 1850's, where it instilled the basic principles of creativity. I then transferred to several schools as I progressed, and it broadened my scope of diversity and understanding of other kids and their different backgrounds. For a few years during elementary, I also was enrolled in a private school, where it taught me to question my beliefs and introduced me to the concept of spirituality. One grade-level at a time, it wasn't long before I propelled myself into high-school; and I always knew that this was the time that mattered. From what I understood, by observing the other students around me, there was not much that separated us from each other, except for our motivation. Although I wasn't the top student, I knew that I wasn't handicapped from the rewards that were offered either. If all you had to do was try your best, then why not?
Michelle Obama launched a campaign that advocates just that: take advantage of the education around you. We are so lucky, in the United States, to have so much access to school. Even if it's not perfect, or it's difficult, it's so important to stay in it and try your best. There's nothing you can't do with education and it's impossible to learn enough.
"But this is just four or five little years of your life ... don't sweat the small stuff. What is important right now is who you're going to be and how you're developing that part of yourself. So, go to school. Focus on your homework. Don't worry about what your friends are saying that much -- because half these people you're not going to know when you're sixty. It doesn't matter what they say or think right now."
While to us, school may be feel standard and it's so easy to take it for granted. There are so many children in the world who do not even have a chance to learn. Whether it be due to cultural beliefs or societal norms, girls, especially, are deprived at the chance to learn. Education is one of the most valuable resource kids need to consume constantly. As they invest in themselves, they will become the strong leaders who will notice the gaps in our world and have knowledge to enrich their community. But first, they need to have the same opportunity as me.
To learn more and make an impact, visit Let Girls Learn. You can also join the campaign by instagraming or tweeting a photo of yourself (as mine above) and share what you learned in school. #62milliongirls and join the yearbook: http://62milliongirls.com/
