A couple of weeks ago, I picked up Mindy Kaling's book Is Everyone Hanging out Without Me? by chance and really enjoyed the candid, funny and very honest tone that she takes. So after reading the book, I developed a serious girl crush on the author-comedian and actually went to check out The Mindy Project, which is created and starred by Mindy herself. Needless to say, I was hooked on the series and ended up binge watching it. I love the kooky, strong, independent career woman character who was looking for love and was not afraid to be vulnerable in love. And honestly, I loved the episode where Mindy began thinking about and carving a life for herself as a single mother when her aspirations did not follow Danny's.
To continue with my Mindy addiction, I went to get a hold of her second book, Why Not Me?, and went from cover to cover in just a couple of hours. The essays on life, love, fame, family, friends and self acceptance were funny and relate-able.
I particularly loved the part about confidence being earned through sheer hard work, bravery and determination. It reminded me of an article asking what one is willing to struggle for to have the life that they want. Well, I want to be a great Speech Pathologist, have great friends, be financially independent, and find the one who I want to come home to after a hard day's work. And in order to get there, I need to work darn hard, and not shy away from difficult and complex cases, be willing to fail in the course of my work and learn from my failures and the examples of other more senior colleagues, be willing to put myself in uncomfortable networking situations and grow my professional network. I need to learn to let down my walls and be vulnerable, to put myself out there and bounce back after rejection, to connect with others and let people in. I need to cut out frivolous purchases, confront my fear of numbers and learn to do my own financial planning. And most importantly, I need to learn to be bolder and not care about what people think, to not be a doormat, or operate passive-aggressively. These are what I am willing to do as I step into the next stage of my life. And surely, borrowing from a particular school motto (although I do not have the best impression of the school boys), the best is yet to be.
"Work hard, know your shit, show your shit, and then feel entitled. Listen to no one except the two smartest and kindest adults you know, and that doesn't always mean your parents. If you do that, you will be fine."
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