I think this is the same feeling I have facing the immense changes facing me at hand. It has been a feeling recurrent - but now it seems somewhat foolish that the object of fear would be passing with a good mark in electromagnetism or in ordinary differential equations. At present, as the weeks go by and I tick of items pending on my "to do" list, my imminent departure of the place that has been "home" for my entire life becomes more real. It's good, but it's bad. It's exciting, but absolutely terrifying. It's a full on paradox. This is a process that I have called informally "adulting" - and it feels like it's time to face more responsibility than I feel prepared to take on.
-- A homemade definition --
a·dult·ing
/əˈdəlt,ˈadˌəltiNG/
verb
The sudden realisation of the need to become fully grown and developed.
"He is adulting very much now that he has to pay his own bills."
noun Process related to taking on responsibility for one's self and one's actions.
"They have not talked so much lately because of adulting."
adjective
Quality that contributes to the process of adulting (see noun).
"Living abroad is a very adulting experience."
However, thinking of all the times the "too small to fill these shoes" feeling was present, it was a remarkably similar feeling. The challenges we face throughout life fill us equally of fear and insecurity, from when we learn our alphabet to when we have to write a cover letter for our CV. However much now I could look back at when I was learning my timetables and think "How I wish those were my issues now...", the truth is, I do not wish I was in that phase of my life, because at the time, learning timetables was as challenging then to me as the challenges I face now.
The trouble with nostalgia is that looking back in time, more often than not, memories are an idealised scene of our past that have been subject to years of emotional attribution and subjectivity. We tend to store memory most strongly when it is relevant emotionally. This is why many times we remember well something we ate that made us sick, and why we also remember well moments that made us very happy. Emotional relevance makes your body more likely to put the effort into memorising a particular type of data, and so we have very extreme memories of the past.
Likewise, we tend to idealise the future and have high expectations - but given that the number of variables coordinating our future is infinitely larger than anything we can even imagine, whatever future we imagine is almost definitely not the same as what it actually will be. This is a dangerous way of thinking and it may make us believe other times are much better or much worse than our present [1] - the only time we can actually do something about. This type of logic - nostalgic or futuristic - distorts our view of the world, and cripples us when faced with new situations because our reference point of "good" or "easy" is unrealistic. We believe the grass is always greener away from our present situation.
I think it's interesting looking at God's approach to such things in his Word. We are creatures bound within time (for now, anyway), and time is mentioned indirectly. Consistently in the old testament God reminds us to look to the past and see what he has done, to see his faithfulness. He does not tell us to look at the circumstances, at our emotional context, at the people surrounding us in a certain point of life - but he told us to look to Him, and no one else. When he speaks to Israel, he asks her to remember all he has done and the signs and evidence of his love (Deuteronomy 8.10-18). He calls himself multiple times the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He attaches the memory of his work, love and faithfulness to his very name. He was, he is and is to come (Revelation 4.8).
Time is not significant to him, and he is not bound by it - thus, when we look at his character in the past, we are also seeing his character in the future, and present. The only difference is the expression of this character through the different filters of circumstance.
Viewing him and his work in the past, apart from making us unrealistically idealise circumstances in the past, also brings our attention back to his faithfulness - the reason why fear of the future, or even giving it undue attention is absolutely unnecessary. He teaches us to pray for "our daily bread" - not a bread like yesterdays, or enough bread to stock up for years to come. By remembering what he has done, we cease to try to live in any time other than our own, for it is in the present we can live, breathe, love, interact, learn and change. We see only him in the past and trust him with the future - while it is in the present that we touch eternity, and can actually do something to be closer to what he intends us to be in eternity.
And thinking of this, of all the times I felt too small to fit the shoes I was wearing, these were the moments I stopped and looked to God, and he helped me through the next unstable steps. Consistently he showed me where to step and held my hand, and slowly I grew to fit the shoes I had - and were my weakness abounded, his strength abounded even more. I guess it's time to tie the shoelaces and trust him for the next step!
"One step thou seest - then go forward boldly
One step is far enough for faith to see
Take that, and the next duty shall be told thee
For step by step by step, the Lord is leading thee"
[1] I came across an interesting word that seems to have a meaning that explains this very well (according to the wisdom of Wikipedia, anyway): Sehnsucht but that "represents thoughts and feelings about all facets of life that are unfinished or imperfect, paired with a yearning for ideal alternative experiences. It has been referred to as “life’s longings”; or an individual’s search for happiness while coping with the reality of unattainable wishes. Such feelings are usually profound, and tend to be accompanied by both positive and negative feelings. This produces what has often been described as an ambiguous emotional occurrence."
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