elite_muses #10
My greatest triumph? The easy answer to that would be claiming it as my law degree. And that wouldn't be anything small to snarl at, either, because it isn't something a lot of people are able to do. Sure, you start out basic introduction to law classes with expectations that are set higher for yourself than you ever knew possible, and you think so positively and with such confidence that failure doesn't even seem to be a conceivable option.
And getting the degree is nothing to frown at. Because as you watch the people around you flounder, struggle, and finally drop from the class they just can't understand, you realize that you might have that happen the next go around. That you might not be able to handle everything you think you can .. and that it might ultimately end up being the end for you.
But I didn't let that be the case. No, I wanted this .. I wanted it more than anything. I wanted a lifestyle where I could be as independent as I damn well pleased without having to answer to anyone - or any man, for that matter. It was what I wanted for myself, and it's what I made sure I got. There isn't anything shameful in a woman being alone, it just shows the way the world has evolved since earlier times.
I don't really know if that's right, to consider that my greatest triumph. I've done so much in my life that hasn't revolved around my career that it seems foolish not to mention it. I can think of the greatest thing I've ever done, that isn't hard to do, but it wasn't a triumph. It was a horrific trial that I don't wish upon anyone in all the world. No one should ever have to worry about the life of someone they love being threatened due to a decision they just won't make correctly. No one should ever have to watch someone they care about suffer in inexplicable ways, hour after hour, and be powerless to do anything they want you to in order to stop it.
It was the hardest decision of my life, and I'm not sorry I made it. But that's not a triumph. No, it wasn't a triumph at all.