Academic Validation.

Pick your own fig.

 "I saw myself sitting in the crotch of this fig tree, starving to death, just because I couldn't make up my mind which of the figs I would choose. I wanted each and every one of them, but choosing one meant losing all the rest, and, as I sat there, unable to decide, the figs began to wrinkle and go black, and, one by one, they plopped to the ground at my feet." - Sylvia Plath

We've all heard of the fig tree analogy. The idea that there are so many possible outcomes for our future. It's time to make sacrifices. It's time to get rid of it all. It's time to stop clinging onto the past. It's time to bring out that fire inside of you that hasn't even been LIT. Time to pick the fig from the tree that you want. You don't know what you want? Work hard. Push through the pain. You will NOT accept a rotten fig. YOU are going to CHOOSE your own fig. YOU are going to climb to the highest point of the fig tree. Get past the insects, the splinters, the cuts, the branches breaking under your feet, the fear of dropping the other, tasteless figs. The possibility of a mediocre future. GET PAST IT ALL. You WILL get that fig, and you will do WHATEVER IT TAKES.

Keep going. Stick it out, and get your reward, because in order to get the ripest fig, you HAVE to go through the most trouble.