Bubble Gum by Megan

Bubble Gum by Megan - May 2014 Scholarship Essay

At one point in their lives, everybody has experienced some else giving them advice that struck a chord of some sort within them. Not necessarily life altering, it may not change anything at all, but perhaps just intriguing enough to stick with you; like bubble gum. You chew it over and over, move it about with your tongue, feel it stick between your teeth as you momentarily struggle to free yourself, before immediately returning back to chew it some more.

“You’re never given anything you can’t handle.” The quote was strange to me, written on an out of focus picture before being posted into my Facebook feed. Half asleep, I just furrowed my eyebrows in the direction of my phone. Surely, sometimes, at least once, someone had to have been put in a situation they could not handle. I tried to think of an example, and searched the deep archives of my mind, all in vain. I repeated it over and over in my head, rolling it around, exploring every angle. The word ‘never’ struck a strange place in me, made me want to combat it, but I could not come up with a single time things had not worked out. I couldn't even think of what that outcome would look like.

This piece of advice didn't change my life. It didn't make me think in a whole new enlighten way. What it did do, and still does, is bring me back into perspective. When I’m stuck in bed, tossing and turning, stressing about things I have or haven’t done, I can just remind myself, that I can handle this, just like I've handled everything I've done before, I feel better. I can rid myself of worries, like an old piece of bubble gum, and walk away.