Last Tuesday we were supposed to read some poems by Wordsworth. One of the poems that we didn’t get to talk about in class really got my attention, or a certain part of it did. Last weekend I was feeling overwhelmed by many of my classes, and the work I knew I would have to do before the end of the semester. I was having a lot of trouble with certain homework assignments, and wasn’t able to feel completely happy with the work I had done. I kept thinking that it just wasn’t good enough, other class member’s would be much better than mine, and mine would completely fall short. This thought really got to me and continually brought me down.
After I had finished a lot of the homework that was stressing me out, I still wasn’t wholly pleased with the work I had done. Then I read Wordsworth’s poem, “Introduction- Childhood and School-Time.” These lines really jumped out at me,
“Far better never to have heard the name of zeal and just ambition, than to live baffled and plagued by a mind that every hour turns recreant to her task; takes heart again, then feels immediately some hollow thought hang like an interdict upon her hopes.”
I don’t know if I have the right understanding of those lines, but to me it’s saying that you tell yourself that your work is good, it’s fine, and it’s going to be ok. Then, you get this one bad thought and all of sudden you are back down in the slumps. Your mind and heart are back to where they were at the beginning, and your thoughts start turning back from good to bad.
I took these lines from Wordsworth as a lesson. I shouldn’t let my work, or the thought of how difficult something might be, get me down. Instead, I should look at it as an exciting new lesson. A way to learn something new, which I might not have ever gotten the chance to learn in any other situation.
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 4:6-7
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