Wednesday Wisdom.

"Wednesday Wisdom" - my favourite excuse to post an Instagram pic, and more importantly, a great chance to take some time to reflect on quotes, advice, or little ditties that I've come across recently. 

Being the Insta-addict that I am, I came across this trend through a friend, who started posting some amazing quotes and tagging them under #wednesdaywisdom. After a couple of weeks of seeing her posts, and scrolling through thousands of photos under the same hashtag from users across the world (wholeheartedly agreeing with the words shared), I decided to jump on the bandwagon. For anybody that doesn't follow me on Instagram, I am well and truly obsessed, posting my recently sourced wise words (or sharing the wisdom of others!) on a weekly basis. 

Recently however, I've been talking about blogging with a friend at work, and her new blog inspired me to want to write a bit more about some of the words that I've seen, shared, or saved to my phone for a rainy day. Don't worry - I'm not suddenly going to get dangerously deep and meaningful on you all, I'm a big beam of Blonde positivity after all. But I thought it would be nice to share some of my thoughts and feelings behind these quotes and why I was inspired to post them. 

Today's Wednesday Wisdom on my blog comes from scrolling through the Quotes section on Pinterest, and seeing something which I could totally relate to at this moment in time. 

I think if I had seen this a few years ago, it may not have had the same effect on me as it has today. But since starting my new job, I've realised that I often make excuses or apologies for myself and how I've come to being where I am today. 

My first month on this scheme holds many perfect examples of this, and I'm almost certain that a number of people I met in that time would agree. 

Being on a graduate scheme, I was surrounded by intelligent, bright and fresh twenty-somethings, who suddenly intimidated me through no fault of their own. They were nothing but lovely to me, all of us in a similar boat, but the questions we found ourselves being asked repeatedly somehow didn't help. 

The first couple of weeks contained the same questions being fired at us over and over again: 

"Where did you go to uni?" 

"When did you graduate?"

And the killer... "What did you study?"

Being asked any of these questions a couple of years ago would've left me feeling proud, oozing passion and enthusiasm in my response. I loved my degree, I chose it for a reason - because I  enjoyed it and it was something that came naturally to me. I also loved Kent - I fell head over heels in love with the uni and the City (see 'Canterbury, I love you') 

But something hit me when I got to this job. I suddenly felt completely intimidated and embarrassed by my answers in comparison to everyone else's, as though I had to justify my past decisions and my journey:

"I went to Kent. No, they didn't do a recruitment fair for this scheme at my uni, but it's a great Uni, honest!"

"I graduated two years ago...No I haven't been travelling for the last two years, just working and being boring...Unfortunately I don't have a pot of gold!" *Sob!* 

And finally, "I studied English Literature...Yes you heard it right, and now I'm on a finance scheme. Yes, Finance...don't ask!"

I found myself sounding sheepish when I answered these questions, dreading the point at the beginning of each session where the presenter or guest speaker would go around us one by one asking such questions. 

I found myself torn between wanting to create a good impression with my responses, but wanting to be myself and be truthful about what I had been up to. I felt I was being judged and had something to prove, as though a couple of raised eyebrows and sarcy comments could define my future. 

In hindsight, I can see that there were more positive reactions to my responses than there were negative or disapproving, and actually I should embrace standing out form the crowd and having a different story. 

Over the last few months, I've met some really interesting and knowledgable people, who have inspired me without even knowing it. I've started to realise that at the end of the day, it doesn't always boil down to where you're from, what you studied, or how long ago it was.

Somebody I met before Christmas said to me "Robyn, remember it's not about where you're from, it's about where you're going". This has stuck with me ever since, and I remind myself of this every time I'm feeling lost. 

I can now see that I should embrace the fact that I'm not your "typical accountant" and just be myself. I should learn to use this to my advantage, and to shape my future, rather than being embarrassed or ashamed that I won't fit in - maybe it will inspire someone, somewhere, to believe in themselves, take a risk, and be proud to be different.