Categories: uncategorized
Date: 10 April 2008 06:43:42
Today I begin another occassional series; this one being "how to bang your head against a brick wall and make it fall". Firstly, a word of explanation, (and health and safety); I obviously don't mean I'm going to be talking literally about banging one's head against a very hard surface to destroy it - that would be a v. stupid and painful thing to do (& I don't imagine it would fall unless it was as unstable as the person attempting it). What I'm going to be exploring is how to keep going, in circumstances that seem unchangable and make them change.
For the godly don't get me wrong, I think God is the person who does dismantle the foundations of the walls whilst we are banging our heads. However, we are also required to put in atleast an ickle effort for God's demolition skills to come to fruition for us. Again I'm going to be using my "life experience" to illustrate some points, but remember in this is that my life is v. ordinary and if you stop and think for a moment you will probably have examples in your own lives that illustrate the same points.
So onto the first principle of "how to bang your head against a brick wall and make it fall" - realise that second chances can be taken.
When I dropped out of 6th form after two terms it was because, realistically, I thought I had no hope of getting to university. Having gone through the starting, swapping a subject and still struggling thing I came to the conclusion that I was obviously not academic enough to do more than get married, have kids and have a job not a career. (**At this point be aware I am not saying that there is anything wrong with choosing the marriage and job route, but at this point in my life this is what I thought my lack of success in sixth form would automatically mean**).
Now, my life would have been very different if I hadn't decided to give it a second go. I did a GCSE at Evening Class to get me used to studying, whilst working first of all and then moved on the next year to one A Level before two the next year. Now I realise I was very lucky, I lived in an age before the government/ LSC attack on the academic departments in FE colleges had meant evening classes were a thing, largely, of the past. It also has to be said that the grades I got studying that way were not wonderful, (infact I got a "N" in one, which meant I failed it). However, what I did get was enough, when I realised I might just be able to hack it, to get me off to uni - through clearing.
So remember second chances are available, you just need to decide to take them sometimes.