I’m always amazed at how similar we are. No matter how different people seem on the outside, our brains and our problems all seem to be alike.

The other day my teacher had us read this Caveman love story. The main character, Oog, faced multiple obstacles, and I was amazed to see how well he handled them.

  When it was time for the class discussion on themes, everyone had different views on the story. The one thing we could all agree on was the cynical responses the main character faced when he wanted to charge his profession in the hopes he would impress his love interest, Girl.

This prompted a story from our professor on how she had always believed people were encouraged to follow their dreams until one day she found out this was not the case.

I found her story shocking because I had always been around those types of people who found it necessary to discourage others from following their dreams just because they were unable to follow their own. I have never understood those types of creatures.

Sometimes life doesn’t take you in the direction you think you need to go, and that’s okay. You don’t need to be bitter and try to keep others down. It isn’t right.

The point of this is that a little encouragement can go a long way.

The road we travel on is a hard one, so we really don’t need to hear negativity from a Debbie Downer.

Some people may look at this and think this is a rare occurrence, but it actually happens way more than you’d think.

I remember the first meeting I had with my advisor when I changed my major to English. I was already super nervous because I had already had my life planned out with my nursing degree, and although I was a pretty decent writer, I didn’t think I could make it in the program. The first thing my advisor asked me is what I wanted to do with my degree. I told her I always had a knack for identifying grammar issues, and I love a good story so I wanted to become a book editor.

No matter where I go in life, I don’t think I can ever forget her response.

She told me I should find a less challenging goal because I would not make it as an editor. She tried to ease her slight by saying she was just being honest because the job market was hard to break into. Although I appreciated her opinion, I wondered why the first thing to come to her mind was negative.

Why not say, “That’s a great goal. Do you have any other plans in case that doesn’t work out for you?”  I would have left the meeting feeling a lot more confident than I did.

As it was, I went back home feeling like I wasn’t good enough, and that I had made a huge mistake in switching my major. It took a very long phone call from my aunt to give me the confidence boost to stay on the path I had started.

I now know she didn’t mean any harm in what she said and that, in her way, she was really trying to help me, but I think we as a society should look for other ways to encourage people.

If you don’t agree with someone’s plan for their life, that’s fine. You need to remember that it is in fact their life, and you should support them. If you don’t support them, then you shouldn’t say anything. You can try and guide them in a better direction if you feel them going off course, but not with meanness. All that does is inspire bitterness in their heart that they will eventually pass on to make themselves feel a tad bit better.

Looking back now, I can appreciate what my advisor did a lot more than I did. I didn’t let her negativity deter me from my chosen field;  I now use it as motivation to excel. I no longer let people’s opinion of my life interfere with what I want or need to do.

I now hope to inspire others to believe in themselves. The most important key to success is confidence that you can achieve your goal.

If you are ever in doubt that you can’t do something you’ve set your mind to, sit down, eat a confidence mint and then do what needs to be done. The world is your oyster so you best get crackin’.