What's Important?

Now, I’m actually writing this earlier than I would usually. As some of you may know, on Thursday it is (or for you, was) A Level results day… and as the course of the next three years of my life, which will probably effect the rest of my life, are going to be decided on that day, I am understandably nervous.

It’s strange to think that when you guys will be reading this, I will know…

I know that whatever will happen will be for the best and will help me discover the path that I am meant to follow… but I’m still worried. But excited.

A part of me can’t wait for Thursday. I’m a planner, so I want to know what my plan is going to be. I’m excited and the anticipation is slowly killing me.

The other part of me, which has been pretty abstractly terrified throughout this exam process, wants the days to slow down. It only feels like yesterday that I graduated high school, and time is slipping away from me.

So, if that makes sense, I want to know, but also don’t want to know… it’s a very complicated state of being.

And as ever, this blog provides a needed distraction from the constant battle of thoughts and emotions.

So, thank you all for reading this blog post and providing me with an outlet for my inexplicable and unordered thoughts <3

Today, as you can probably gather from the title, I wanted to talk a little bit about what’s important.

Now, what do I mean by that? What is important?

Everyone has a different answer to this no doubt. To some it will be their friends. To others it will be what happened on Love Island.

Whatever your idea of what’s important, as they vary from person to person, do you actually know why it is important to you? Is there a story behind it, or is it just a natural importance you hold for it?

According to an article I recently read, statistically speaking, when something is important to you, it usually has an impact on the person that you are.

So, for an example, reading is important to me. This is because it is one of the main sources of my ideas and it enriches me as a person and an author. Reading was why I became an author, so the thing of importance had a huge impact on the person I am and the life I will lead.

Think about it. What’s important to you? Why? What does that thing that is important to you bring into your life?

I’m not saying that everything you love will have some hidden meaning in your life. If you like watching Stranger Things, it’s probably just that you like the show and the actors and not that it is intrinsically linked to your life somehow.

But I found it quite fascinating to think about the things that are important to me and why. I don’t know why but somehow it was quite comforting and interesting to have a bit of a deeper think about myself and how my important things have shaped that person.

And I thought it might be a fun reflection exercise for you guys too. Not for any particular reason other than curiosity about yourself.

I firmly believe that life is a journey of discovery on which we have to discover the hidden parts of our personality and learn to understand and love ourselves. So, personal reflection is essential.

Tell me what you think about in the comments below.

The other key thing this article mentioned was the fact that we often subconsciously deny the importance of other’s important things.

Effectively, when you and your friends are discussing something, and your friend says they think koalas are the best thing in the world, and the rest of your group all dismiss the idea and say instead what they think are the best things in the world, you denied the importance of the other friend’s important thing.

If you could follow that, I applaud you.

When reflecting on that, I realised that it was true. Without any malice intended, friendship groups do this to each other on a daily basis when expressing their own opinions.

And there’s nothing wrong with that. But, as the article said before that what’s important to you is important to you for a reason, you never really consider the impact of denying the importance of whatever it may be.

Now I doubt anyone has ever taken deep offence from such a flippant conversation about personal tastes and opinions. But it does give you food for thought, doesn’t it?

What if whatever it is a key part of you and your personality?

For example, I love Shakespeare. I’ve probably said that a thousand times at least, because even thought it’s not a massively popular idea with people my age, it’s my opinion and it is part of who I am. I don’t take offence when people diss Shakespeare in front of me, but I disagree with them because that’s who I am. Shakespeare is important to me, and I will stand with that forever.

So, I guess my two main takeaways from this are: a) everything that is important to you is important for a reason, big or small and b) never let anyone tell you that what you believe to be important is unimportant. Because that’s effectively them telling you that a fundamental value of your personality is unimportant. They don’t have to agree with you, but don’t agree with them either.

Don’t feel bad either if one thing seems more important to you than the other when you think it should be the other way around. That’s just your personality naturally directing you towards what you enjoy.

I always knew that Maths was important in school. But to me, French was more important. On report sheets, Maths was always at the top, but to me, French should have been before Maths.

And I ended up taking French for A Level. Because it was what was important to me. Because I enjoyed it. Because somehow, it was a part of my nature.

Know your own mind and stay strong in what is important to you. Don’t let anyone sway you. The things that are important to you form your passions which should sculpt the life you lead.

So, when someone questions something that is important to you, think of your why. And tell them that you are the way you are because of that thing.

Finally, I hope that everyone who received results yesterday or will be receiving them soon got what they wanted/needed.

And if you didn’t/don’t, remember that everything happens for a reason and everything will sort itself out soon.

Honestly, the above is for me as much as it is for you guys…

Have a great weekend,

#roxyelle #whatsimportant #deep