Size is Everything

It's probably fair to say that many people are consumed with size.  Society tells us some things are better if they are bigger: houses, cars, diamonds.  Other things are better smaller: waistlines, debts and gadgets.  There's plenty of debate from size zero to plus size and everything in between.

I'm 5'10" and love being tall.  My height is something I've always enjoyed and as my children get older I'm excited about the day either of them will be taller than me.  It hasn't happened yet!

Recently, the size of my PhD has begun to overwhelm me.  It's massive.  I don't recall being told, when I began this process, that the size of it would be one of the biggest challenges to overcome.  I'm sure they must have done.

Do you ever look back at photos of yourself and think, "I don't know what I was worried about back then"?  I thought I was fat/spotty/ugly.  I should have enjoyed and taken pride in my youth much more.  After all, now I have wrinkles to add to the list.

Similarly, I used to think writing an essay was hard; lots of articles to read, trying to summarise, making sense of arguments and adding criticism. Now I've got my PhD to write and wonder what I was worried about back then.  Knowing all the literature so well that my argument is clear and progresses logically makes my brain ache.


So what's the moral of the story? Stop being so hard on yourself.  We're all doing the best we can at the time.  Keep going and congratulate yourself on your progression.  Give yourself more positive messages.  We should work on encouraging ourselves as much as we do other people.  Challenges are good things because they push us to grow and become our best selves.  There's nothing wrong with looking at ourselves and saying, "I'm okay and I'm doing well".