May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. Romans 15:13
College has taught me an abundant amount of lessons: do not procrastinate, make sure you have your keys so you do not lock yourself out of your dorm, talk to the person next to you in class, and do not stay up with friends until six in the morning if you have an eight-thirty class the next morning (I never really regret that, though). Along with all the little things, the biggest concept I gained from being here is to appreciate life as a whole. Cheesy, but let me elaborate.
College has taught me to live in the moment; to appreciate all the little things. The little things being beautiful weather when I need to walk across campus, the quietness in the library, class getting cancelled just because, smiling at familiar faces, and the list can go on. There have been moments where I feel the biggest wave of satisfaction and I cannot help but just smile. When you open your eyes to the present time and stop worrying so much about your past or future, you would be surprised with how much you miss that is right in front of you.
Nearing the end of the semester, I am still meeting new people every day. When you hear, "You are going to meet so many people," they are not kidding. The social aspect of college is one of my favorite parts; I love being able to walk outside and see someone I know. Even if it is just a simple wave, smile, or a nod, it can make my entire day. One of the biggest mindsets I have in life is fate, and I know I was supposed to meet every single person who I came across with this semester. I would not have it any other way.
Shannon Torrens made what is known as the 5 by 5 rule: if it won't matter in five years, don't spend more than five minutes worrying about it. This concept always made me shake my head in spite. After all, you cannot expect an overthinker to not overthink. I cannot tell you when or how, but being up here made me flip some sort of switch. I started to live by this theory. If it is out of my control, or if it will not affect me in the future, there is no point in letting whatever it is disrupt my peace. Now, I have been an overthinker far longer than I can even recall, so I have certain tendencies, but it never fully consumes my energy anymore. I realized this because I cannot remember what I dealt with five years ago. Was I in a fight with a friend/loved one? Was I stressing over an exam? Was I insecure about my appearance? The world will never know because it is no longer significant, and I wish I could go back and reassure my younger self of this. What I consider to be a big deal now, will most likely be nonexistent five years down the line. I encourage you to think about what may be stressing you out currently and decide if it will be worthy of your time in the future.
Feeling the satisfaction that I feel now took time. There were times were I never thought I would enjoy all that life offered. It can be discouraging when you feel stagnant in a repetitive routine. If I did not receive good news or have a good thing happen every day, I would feel let down. It is not necessarily waiting for something positive to occur, but instead, making something positive occur. If you wish to feel satisfied with where you are at, create endless opportunities that will lead you into living the life you wish to live.
My advice for this: search for the little things. When you can point out something so small, you are one step closer to enjoying life for what it is. For example, today I was immensely stressed due to waking up late for a final. After I made the exam up, I treated myself to a coffee and got to see and converse with a few friends. I had every reason to have the worst day possible because I almost missed one of my biggest tests, but I switched the narrative. I chose to have a good day. The minute you are capable of getting out of your head and letting life take its course, I guarantee you the weight of whatever you are bearing will fall from your shoulders. You see, this mishap with my final will not matter in five years, so I did not waste more than five minutes worrying about it.
The little things in life add up. You do not need substantial things to make life spectacular. I hear stories about celebrities or millionaires who have everything they have ever desired...and are completely miserable. There is more to life than money, popularity, degrees, and materialistic things. Sure, they might make us temporarily happy, but when you put all your cards on these tables, the satisfaction of life may never come.
Your entire life should be spent doing things you absolutely love. If it's not making you happy, change it. Your life, your choices. Aly Aubrey
It took me until my first year of college to feel this way. There is no time limit; be patient if you feel stuck. Feeling satisfied with where you are takes time; I do not want to discourage anyone. If you were to tell me to understand this mindset even a year ago, I would have laughed in your face. Five by five rule? Overthinking less? Feeling an abundant amount of joy from simply the weather? Crazy. However, the time will come when you just let things happen the way they are destined to. You dictate how you go from there. That is the gift of life--you get to decide how you react to everything and when it is the best time to act upon certain things. This is genuinely your story. How would you like to look back and reflect on it? Practice appreciating the little things and ignoring the need for the materialistic things of life. Fall in love with the life you create.
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