I’ve often discussed in my columns how important it is to push yourself out of your comfort zone.
It’s something I try to do regularly, both with work, life, and school.
The end is in sight for my latest university course; I write my final exam in a little over three weeks.
This course, Psychology as a Natural Science, has been dogging me for nearly a year.
Last year, I made the — possibly not-so-smart — decision to try taking two courses at a time while I worked full time.
As a result of that decision, both of these courses suffered. I ended up having to extend the one course once, and the psychology course I have extended a full six months.
Still, with the end finally in sight, I feel like a weight is lifted off.
I definitely pushed my boundaries by taking on the second course. I also learned that just maybe that wasn’t such a hot idea, but nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?
Part of what has stymied me with this course is how technical it is; it has been brutal.
I’ve learned a few things about myself through this process, though.
One: I can only push myself so far. There are only 24 hours in a day, and with the work tempo I keep trying to balance two courses is completely unfeasible.
Lesson learned.
Two: I can excel at time management, but I can’t add more hours to the day.
As much as I’d like to take on more courses to finish my degree more quickly, I need to manage expectations.
I can only run full out for so long before things start to break. I recently needed to take some time off because, between work and school, I was feeling spent.
There’s a saying that goes, “If you don’t make time for wellness, you will need to make time for illness.”
That saying is 100 per cent accurate.
Three: I’ve been able to push myself further than I ever thought possible.
When I left the ambulance over a decade ago —seriously, how is it that long already? — I didn’t think I would see 40.
Through my recovery and my writing, I have come to learn perhaps the greatest lesson of all…
Four: Where you are today is not the end of the line.
The sun is going to continue to rise; the key thing to remember is that as minor as it is, any forward progress is still forward progress.
This psychology course has been a major pain, but it is going to come to an end, and I am going to move on to the next course, then the next, and then the one following that.
Some of the courses are going to be easier, and some are going to be harder.
Each one is going to be challenging in its own right; I’m not complaining, because there is no growth without challenge.
Once I have this psychology course done, I will be officially one-quarter the way through my degree.
In some ways, it has been a slog and in others it has gone by in a blink.
Either way, I’m learning more than just the lessons in the syllabus; I’m learning about myself as I carry on down this road.
- Kevin Sabo is the editor of the Bashaw Star, Castor Advance and Stettler Independent newspapers for Black Press Media.