Thinking Beyond Your Situation
Sometimes as humans, it’s hard to see beyond the current point in time. As if the present is nothing but a never evolving reality perpetually fueling your ideas of hopelessness. These unprogressive ideas seem to multiply exponentially, creating a cycle that leaves you at a point of both confusion and little motivation. We all stumble onto these feelings at one point or another in our lives, whether it’s in our job situation or in an increasingly stale relationship. Nevertheless, it is vital to not let this situation dim our desires of a better tomorrow. Hopefully this piece will help you remember how strong the human spirit really is when you feel that your metaphorical lifeboat comes across troublesome waters.
After graduating college, I was excited as any college grad to see the world and all the opportunities that this education has afforded me. Being like any other wide-eyed recent college grad, I was hoping to get a “perfect” 9-5 corporate job in New York City, or any other major metropolitan that offers the grown-up feeling most young people yearn for. However, after not getting a job for up to 6 months post graduation, that generic dream became ever fleeting. It wasn’t until 7 months post graduation that I was able to get that corporate job that I thought would be perfect in order to follow the script most grads are eager to follow in life.
“Life is never stagnant, it is always changing and fluctuating between good and sometimes not so good experiences, but the point is that things do change. ”
However, after having worked that position for a little over a year, I realized that it wasn’t quite what I was looking for. I began to have these feelings of hopelessness, as if I was lost in a matrix and had no idea of what my life was about or where I was going. I kept going back in forth with myself, trying to figure out what all of this meant as I repeatedly fell short of understanding and fell more and more into this state of stagnation where I felt disabled to move anywhere. It was as if living in this stagnation shielded me from spawning these feelings of dissatisfaction with my current situation while I resided in this place of familiar sadness. Although this feeling seems both comforting and unshakeable, it is important to not have your mind set in that way of thinking.
For example, think about that time when you had a class that just seemed so impossible to go to every day. Every time you felt this immense pressure as you entered the classroom, and at that time you felt that the feeling would last forever. But flash-forward five years, you probably couldn’t remember the name of the class, let alone the final grade you received. This is all to say, everything is a season that will pass with time. For example, post graduation, I thought I would never get a job and my mind was fully in that mindset. However, once I got a job, looking back on the time when I didn’t have a job, it seemed almost ridiculous that I believed that it would be my life permanently. But, that too is a season that passed in due time. Life is never stagnant, it is always changing and fluctuating between good and sometimes not so good experiences, but the point is that things do change. No matter how bleak things may seem at the moment, remember that time is forever moving forward, so with that it is important to understand the value of the moment while remaining open-minded and hopeful about the life beyond the current situation.
Once I got notified that I would be teaching English in South Korea, the next big decision to make would be to decide where I would be living in South Korea. Historically, many foreigners interested in traveling here are primarily concerned with living in Seoul. In fact, many people who are even somewhat familiar with South Korea are often times only aware of Seoul.