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You Don’t Need A Therapist, You Need A Friend
I was pacing nervously throughout the corridors of a neighbouring high school one evening, clenching onto my presentation notes, I was about to be the final speaker for my senior debating teams grand final attempt. I was entrusted with pulling together this collection of arguments from both side to within a 30 minute timeframe construct a conclusion to our sides position whilst also evaluating the merit of the opposition whilst still maintaining the superiority of our case.
You know how I said this was a senior competition, I was telling the truth, what I hadn’t said was, I was 14.
Every other competitor around me was 17 or 18 years old. Now that didn’t discourage me. Looking back it was a mixture of naive delusion mixed in with emboldened arrogance that made me believe that I could do this for me and my team. I had spent months working with my mentors and peers developing our skills and our techniques for this challenge. We spoke about what it would feel like before we presented, the emotions of working towards something that we care about and being on the cusp of success or failure. In those discussions we were open about how each of us were feeling going into the event and the sense of anxiety we felt hung on the result. We focused on how we would feel if we won, the joy and elation. We also took the time to dwell in the short term heart…
