Imagine that you are on a swing. You sit yourself down on the seat, grab both chains beside you, and walk backwards until you’re on the very edge of the swing’s general area before kicking your feet up, sending you flying forward. Your legs pump back and forth and the more that you pump your feet, the higher that you swing until you feel like you’re flying.
Now imagine that, in the midst of your joyful soar, one of the swing’s chains snaps. You’d probably come crashing down immediately and likely have a few cuts and bruises to show for it. You pick yourself up slowly, seeing the pile of chain links resting on the mulch and the pitiful seat hanging on by only one working chain.
What happened?
Well, the chains on the swing serve as the swing’s support. The swing would not be able to function without the chains holding it up. Keep in mind, both of the chains need to be holding it because one chain is not going to be enough.
What does this image of a swing mean, exactly?
In your imagined scene, the swing that you were on represented a big decision that you needed to make, the chains of the swing represented the support from friends and family, and your pumping legs represented your determination as you made that decision and worked towards making your choice a reality. The more that you pumped your legs, the higher you went. Yet, none of it could have been possible without the chains holding the swing together.
In life, decisions are thrown at you almost every day and while some are minor and require little thought, others are bit bigger in scope and require some meticulous thought that could span from days to weeks to even months if need be. Major life decisions are stressful, there’s no doubt about that, but even the biggest, most stressful decisions can be eased with something very important: support.
In today’s day and age, many people, especially teenagers and young adults, have to make monumental decisions about life, education, and even finances and many of these decisions are not familiar. For many, including myself, it may feel like entering a dark world of anxiety, deadlines, and adulthood after spending the previous 17 years in a pleasant wonderland of childhood, happiness, and the occasional mild choice here and there. It’s a tough transition, but the support from family and friends can make a world of difference. Still, some people don’t quite know just how important it is to keep that support going from one’s adolescence to teenage years to their young adult years and beyond.
Consider a common landmark decision made by an average teen/young adult: choosing an area of study in college (otherwise known as the major and minor). After venturing into the fun, yet slightly overwhelming world of college visits, college applications, and college acceptance, most new college students have to find a specific path that will set them on the track to a college degree. With many universities offering a wide array of majors, choosing can be a big decision, as it will have a major effect (no pun intended) on how academic life will go. Some students start as undecided and some already have a major that they love, but, unfortunately, some will be stuck with a major that they don’t like in order to please their family. Why is that? It's a lack of support.
Could you imagine it? Being held back from doing what you love because you won’t get the loving support from your own family is a heartbreaking reality for some young adults entering college. However, there are many other decisions that harbor the potential for minimal-to-no support whatsoever. From choosing a major to joining a club to deciding to move to another state after graduation, every big decision must have support behind it or you’ll just end up bruised from falling off the broken metaphorical swing.
Even decisions about one’s identity need a source of support. Too often, a person dies after coming out of the closet or expressing who they truly are because their friends and family reject them. They die. They die because of who they are. Unfortunately, those poor souls not only got bruised, but they wiped out on the mulch after falling from their swing and no one came to help them up. That has to change.
No matter what big decision faces you, be grateful for the support that you receive, whether it’s from a friend, a parent, a sibling, a relative, or even a trusted adult. You never know where support will come from and I promise you that once you find it, it’ll really make a difference in your decision and the pursuit of your dreams. That swing’s chain can break, but it can also be fixed and once it is, you’ll be soaring on that swing once more.
