“The greatest battles of life are fought out every day in the silent chambers of one’s own soul.” – David O. McKay

Man, the world has problems. In the year 2050, society will look back at our generation and forever shun us for three things: climate change, the war in Iraq, and reality TV. How could they let those things happen? How could they have actually stood by and let those things happen? Having grown up in post-apartheid South Africa, it’s a question I’ve always asked myself. How on earth was that allowed to happen for so long? Didn’t the rest of the world realise what we were going through? Didn’t they care?

That question became increasingly relevant in daily varsity life. I recall a general sense of despondency among my classmates. I guess we’d all grown a little tired of the dreary world of accounting and what look set to be rather dreary lives ahead of us. And being reminded of this fact five days a week by oft-annoying lecturers wasn’t helping.

Everyone dealt with that in different ways. Some convinced themselves (rightly or otherwise) that a career as a corporate automaton, working twelve-hour days plus weekends, was a prospect they were excited to pursue. Others simply decided that after almost four years, it was a little late for second thoughts. They might as well accept their fate.

And then there were those who did something else altogether. They decided that enough was enough. They wanted out and they wanted out now. They chose to bypass post-grad and either take a detour overseas or head straight into the wonderful world of work. They chosen to do the unthinkable by listening to that inner voice in the hope it would lead them to brighter days.

There’s a lesson in there I’m finally starting to understand. Yes, the world has problems, but all those can wait. The biggest problem we have is letting problems become problems in the first place. The biggest problem we have is allowing small concerns to slowly morph into crises; so much so that we’re constantly caught off-guard by what we thought would never happen.

All around us, the evidence is clear. We pretend the problems we have don’t exist. We sweep them under the rug to deal with another day or engage in just enough “quiet diplomacy” (um, oxymoron?) to assuage our guilt. We take part in flash mobs or water balloon fights on campus even though we’re barely passing our courses. We pretend to be happy in our jobs or in our relationships even though we’re secretly dying inside. But of course it’s okay because the last thing we want to do is change.

We do whatever we can to cover up the pain because feeling uncomfortable is something to be avoided at all costs. Sometimes it’s necessary to laugh at our problems, but sometimes it’s not. Sometimes we don’t want to see the fuzzy panda bears at the end of the every news bulletin or have the good guy win yet again. That’s just not the way life is and it’s time we came to terms with that reality.

This world can be quite a dark place and believing otherwise is the most dangerous thing we can do. We all have problems and we all have pain. But instead of ignoring what makes us uncomfortable, we need to embrace it. Instead of reaching for the medicine cabinet or putting Band-Aids over flesh wounds, we need to roll up our sleeves and get our hands dirty. The pain is telling us that things need to change. It’s telling us that ignoring the issue will only make it worse. That’s just the way it is. Deal with it.