Your Environment Is Everything

It determines your quality of life

I have realised that our imagination is limited by the environments we are, and have been, immersed in, whether physically or mentally, through literature, for example.

Making an impulsive decision to move to a local island for the summer months was the best decision I could have made that was available to me at the time; — at the end of a long, groundhog-y lockdown lasting more than a couple of months.

It hasn’t been free of challenges, at all, but it’s definitely gotten me out of a funk, stemming from an unnatural level of mundane routine spanning on and on and on for an inhumanly long time.

Your environment is crucial to determining your perspective

We are so susceptible to our environments. Even if we think we are independent and can make decisions without being swayed by the opinions of others, we can’t help it. Insidious beliefs seep through society, like the virus.

We let the untested doubts of others deter us from acting on potentials that excite us the most. Why? Because they hold a level of risk which makes people who are comfortable where they are, well, a bit uncomfy.

Going against the status quo is a bit past people’s comfort level. We can’t have that.

Really think about how you feel about your life in your current environment, and others that you spend/have spent lengthy amounts of time in. Do you feel good there? If not, don’t be afraid to search for someplace that is more supportive of who you want to be.

Don’t succumb to the views of those you don’t look up to

Honestly, doing what I thought “I should” be doing for the last couple of years — finishing my Science degree — was almost suffocating. I wouldn’t say I regret it, I know I am so lucky to have had the opportunity to get such an education which can only be a dream for millions of people around the world. What I’m saying, is I had the feeling that I didn’t have any choice but to stick it out, which is completely false, obviously, but for some reason, that’s actually how I felt at the time. Fear held me back.

Now, this was my decision, of course. I wasn’t been forced to do it with a knife to my throat, but it was a mental prison, in a sense. However, I know this decision of mine was based on the common societal mindset that you “need to get a good, stable job, and for that, you need to get a degree”. I felt anxious all the time about my future situation, simply because I didn’t really know that there are endless other ways to live that would feel amazing and liberating.

Who knows if I’ll use my degree, for getting a degree-related job. Specialised knowledge is valuable whether you use it for a particular field of work, or not. I mean, you never know when a comprehensive understanding of early hominins may come in handy in the real world, you know?

There are so many ways to make a living that don’t involve your standard 9–5. The thing is, if you don’t know what some of those ways might be, you have to get out there and be intentional in looking for them.

See your life as an adventure

To be honest, I have no idea what I’ll be doing one year, or ten years, from now. My guess — ten years into the future, I will have done a variety of work, much of which I literally cannot imagine right now. Isn’t that cool, to realise there is so much yet to experience? I think so.

I just know that dropping my normal routine, and so much that made me who I thought I was, has been amazing. Now I can see more clearly that our identities are never fixed, we are always changing.

We are adaptable, and when you know that you are flexible whenever you need or want to, which gives you more true strength and confidence.

If you are feeling stuck, and if you can, I’d suggest moving somewhere else for a bit. You can have a glorious time, even earning close to minimum wage, and still be able to support yourself if you want to take a break from the rat race, or the pursuit of it, for a while.

Your environment is so important in determining the quality of your life.