Life is Like a Game of Pin the Tail on the Donkey
By: Alex Specht
There is a fantastic Youtuber called YesReneau. I watched one of her videos the other day having to do with quarter life crisis’. She made an analogy that I had never thought of before and I thought was incredible. She compared life to a game of pin the tail on the donkey. You’re only goal is to pin the tail on your own specific donkey but while you’re growing up, your friends and peers and society and community is spinning you around telling you what your life should be like. They might spin you to the exact opposite direction of the way your donkey is facing and even though you wouldn’t be going the right way, you’ll start walking from where they left you anyways. She said that she had taken a break for two years. During that time it might not have looked like she was progressing because she wasn’t walking anywhere, but instead she was positioning herself to face her donkey. She needed time to orient herself to go the right way so now when she does decide to walk forward, she’s more likely to be walking towards her donkey.
What an amazing way to look at it. Sometimes people that take breaks from school or work or other aspects of their lives are seen as lazy or not motivated. But the thing is, some of us just don’t have all the answers to life and need to take a step back to figure them out.
There was a point in my life where I was constantly having a meltdown. I just dropped out of college, I had massive anxiety, and I didn’t know what I was doing with my life. I had no idea what I wanted or what values I associated with. Like being spun around in the pin the tail on the donkey analogy, I had clung onto what the rest of society said was the “right” lifestyle to live. I was realizing that I didn’t want to be like everyone else. I wanted to figure out my life for myself. That meant I had to take a step back and start questioning everything.
I wasn’t in school anymore, I didn’t have a job, and I was living with my parents. There were times where I was for sure self conscious that people were judging me and I wasn’t living up to my peers standards. I look back now and I’m so happy that I took that time to completely focus on myself. I learned so much about myself and I feel like I’m closer to facing where my donkey is.
I also realize that not everyone has the privilege to leave all of their responsibilities behind and chill out for long periods of time. Most people are accountable for some sort of financial situation. You may not be able to take a big chunk of time off but you can still find small parts of your day to work on yourself. It could be an hour a day to do something that you like doing. Any amount of time dedicated to your self development counts.
It might not even be a job or school that you need a break from. Maybe you’re starting to question the faith you’ve been raised into. Maybe you need a break from a person in your life that has been letting you down more often than not. Maybe you just need time to figure out what’s going to make you happy. Ask questions frequently, dig deeper into your soul. The time you have on this earth is yours.
If you have a chance to take some time off from whatever may not be serving you, I would recommend doing it. There’s no shame in taking a gap year or exploring something you’ve never thought of exploring. In the end, it doesn’t matter what other people think because we’re all on our own journeys and we all have a different donkey to pin.
Make sure to check out the video called “Having a Quarter Life Crisis? Watch this” by the youtuber YesRneau!