From Fragility to Strength: A Journey Through Stress and Growth

Life is like one of those beautiful round glasses with a flower inside. It’s so beautiful ̶̶ so precious ̶ yet so fragile. One wrong move and this beautiful masterpiece will shatter. One wrong move and the broken glass might cut anyone nearby before it hits the ground and a drop of blood will be shed.

This is how life feels on a day-to-day basis especially when we deal with something like anxiety. I am aware how amazing life is but spend too much time waiting and searching for signs that might change it for the worse. Looking for a crack in my precious glass. I believe this is the source from where my stress stems from. I think of problems before they care to exist. It reminds me of the first time I realized that I was truly stressed.

I had just begun high school with all of my friends and classmates with me. I was excited to start this new chapter of my life. I chose all of my top favorite subjects which were taught by some of my favorite teachers. Life felt great at that time.

The subjects and life in general felt easy and simple at first but over time that begun to change. It dawned on me how bulky and heavy these subjects actually were and I was not prepared for that, not even in the slightest. This was a very strange realization for me because I am always prepared for the worst outcome ̶ aren’t I? How did I overlook such as obvious potential problem? How could I be so stupid? Why did I ever think I could do this?

These were the thoughts and questions that were racing through my mind. Legs began to tremble and my hands started to shake. These thoughts oversaturated my mind so much that I began to shut down mentally, emotionally and even spiritually. I could not utter a single word of prayer.

How could this be? I had this kind of mindset where if it did not work out the first time then there is no point of trying again. That things should always come naturally to me except that that could not be any further from the truth.

One of my teachers realized that there was something wrong with me because my grades dropped significantly. He sat down with me. I confessed how overwhelmed I felt and how I believed that I cannot pass my final exams.

He asked me if I knew what is a growth and fixed mindset and I told him I do not know the difference. What he told me next has stuck with me till this day. He said “Someone with a fixed mindset, their thoughts are not flexible. They are afraid of trying because they are afraid of failure therefore cannot learn from their mistakes. What you need to have in this life is a growth mindset. Do not be afraid of failing because in failure that is how we remember and learn from our mistakes. That is how we improve. So don’t be hard on yourself and try your best. And just know your teachers believe in you and you should start believing in yourself. You got this!” That is the day I realized I had a fixed mindset.

I knew I needed a change in perspective. I had forgotten that none of these subjects came naturally to me and low grades were my norm until I worked hard alongside my teachers until I had my first taste of success in my academics.

When sand is heated in a furnace at a very high temperature of 1700 degree Celsius, it melts into a molten liquid. It is then mixed in with other materials like iron and limestone and then later molded into different shapes and different things such as plates and vases. It later goes through a cooling process called annealing which is often used to reduce the internal stress in the glass and improve its strength and durability. That is how glass is made.

This process imitates how life can feel at times. It feels like we are stuck in furnace while our problems and thoughts act like wood to the fire. However, it does not end there and we should never give up because in the end, life becomes like a flower globe. Only we know what we have gone through in life yet we can appreciate how strong, resilient and precious we are in this life that people can only see the final product but can’t help but admire it.

Article by Joy Kimani, Bachelor of Financial Services Student