Article writing: fear vs ambitions
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I became a vegetarian when I was 17 years old, and it felt like the most natural decision of my life. For the first time, I committed to taking an active role in aligning my values with my lived experience, and this gave every day a little more purpose than it had before. At 25, it still does. While this progression came easy to me, it proved challenging for others. Catholic school cafeterias have been the site of almost all prominent humiliations in my life, so you can imagine that unpacking tofu and bean sprouts at the lunch table invited a biblical amount of ridicule during my senior year.
One particular day, I had the misfortune of sitting next to a human who can only be described as a lacrosse player who took it as his personal responsibility to correct my misguided foray into the world of vegetarianism. The arc of his argument is so tired, it’s not worth repeating, but his final move was almost Olympic in its absurdity. In response to my extolling the nutritional virtues of broccoli, our hero replied, “Well, you could die tomorrow anyway. What’s the point?” Great question, dude, what is the point?
To this day, his interrogative mantra rings in my ears every time I feel the urge to go out on a limb. In context, his stance can easily be written off as teenage naïveté, but the spirit of the question is unfortunately encoded throughout our lives. For the postgraduate seeking to transgress or assume an affirmative stance on an issue of importance to her, resistance comes in the shape of familiar inquiries: How will that pay your bills? Who’s going to want to buy that? Do you really think you’re capable? These are questions adults use to keep one another in their respective places, and it makes sense.
Ambition is scary, and it can be dangerous. It can intimidate the actor and the bystander alike–What if I fail? What if I never try? The truth is that the stakes are high every morning the minute your feet hit the floor, and that’s a lot of pressure. We often seek to alleviate this pressure by taking the path of least resistance.