I bounced from year 9 to year 10 back in 2004, using the lazy summer as a springboard to an exciting school year.
Well, that was the plan.
I walked through the school gates on that September day to be greeted with a sense of unreality. Did you ever have a dream where you so badly wanted your legs to work, but all they would do was turn to jelly or get all tangled up?
I got through that day, then through the week. Every lesson I had, every chat with a friend…felt like it was missing something. A piece of the jigsaw. I’d walk from class to class feeling as if someone was moving my legs, puppet style. I just wasn’t there. I missed the holidays. I missed the seaside. I missed not worrying about exams! I missed waking up every morning and not being here.
But one day, it all slipped into place.
I wish I could tell you how, or when, or why. I just that know that everything started to feel real again one day. The puzzle gradually came together, the middle pieces slotting together to look more like a picture.
Now? I just try to find signposts. Markers that show me what was so good about ‘before’, and how to go ‘forward’.
So a bit about me: a part of my job involves selling expensive watches. Omega is a huge brand that you might have heard of, so big that even James Bond wears their watches! But you know, this isn’t my life’s dream. Far from it…but on days when I get really discouraged, I look at the Omega logo. It’s a letter from the Greek alphabet, which in English means ‘end’. Jesus used this word when He said “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end”.
It’s my signpost! Even on the most puzzling days, it reminds me that Jesus is still my end piece.
Going back to school, or starting something new, can be exciting. It can also be weird and scary, as I found out! Find the signposts. Things that anchors you into why you’re doing what you’re doing. Things that spark happy memories, and inspire you to make an even better future.
