It’s inevitable that once we hit college, when you’re supposedly “finding yourself”, it’s very common to lose sight of priorities. We bury ourselves with an excess of any and everything, some significant things, things just to fill the void, things that lead to other things, things that impact your entire life. And as an optimism addict, I can’t help but hope that these 4/5 years create one ginormous learning experience where people’s current college life will direct them to a more substantial future. Finding yourself…or just better-ing yourself…reaffirming who you are.
Upon trying to post another blog, I had a major writer’s block. I started writing about different things like the past weekend, the whole idea of “everything happens for a reason”, reciprocity, friendships, change & conflict. But as I was having a random AIM conversation with my fellow positivity advocate, marleezie, he suggested to write about =what’s important in life=, which ain’t such a shabby idea. Here’s my spin…
1- FAMILY. Everyone’s heard it or even claimed “family first”. In the chaos of college, many times family slips from being top priority. But, the beauty of family is that it’s this consistent unit that will have your back no matter how long it's been or how much you screw up. And I’m aware that everyone does not have some kind of perfect 1950’s TV family, but I hope that everyone has some sense of “family” somewhere, whether it’s a group of guys hanging out in a condo, a dance team, a group of childhood girlfriends. Family should not be taken for granted because they’ve taught you more than you’d think.
2- FRIENDS. This one’s pretty self-explanatory. I think a huge factor to happiness is to surround yourself with good people. You’ll feed off each other in [hopefully] good ways. It’s always best to have some kind of outlet…to tell your secrets to, crack jokes with, make those crazy memories with, talk about the intellectual aspects of life. I’ve learned a lot about friendships throughout the years. There’s always different intentions, frustrations, and rewards that come with friendships. Some friends may drift apart [I’ve learned that apparently sometimes intentionally], but oh man, the people that stick around despite the distance or drama, those are the keepers.
3- FAITH. At a time where people need something consistent, something of substance during the emotional rollercoaster of college, I think this area gets pretty neglected. Having faith does not necessarily mean sitting in the front row every Sunday at church, but just the understanding that life is so much brighter with the outlet of prayer and the recognition of blessings. Word.
4- PURPOSE. While college is typically a time of freedom [sorry to be a downer], it ain’t gonna last forever, so that’s where purpose comes in. It’s always best to center your life on some kind of ambition. Without passion for something, it’s obviously pretty tough to have any drive to reach any goals. And while we’re still young and trying to discover exactly what kind of purpose we have in this crazy world, it’s probably a good idea to start searching. During this process of establishing your own identity, a massive step is establishing what you’re gonna do with all that talent, passion and curiosity.
5- FUN. “you don’t stop playing because you get older, you get older because you stop playing”. I forgot where I saw this quote, but I really like it because it’s sooooo true. I think most people right now loathe this whole “growing up” idea because these college years really are the best years of your life [if you make ‘em that way]. It’s when you’re old enough to do pretty much whatever you want, but not required to be at the point where decisions [like getting that 9-5 job, buying a house, being financially stable, having a family] take over your life. At this stage in life, yeah you should feel alive, yeah you should feel invincible, but that’s not to say that 10 or 20 years from now, you should feel numb and bland. Yeah, stress can happen but it‘s only temporary. RIGHT NOW, those spontaneous hangouts, opportunity to be wild and carefree, to have random conversations until sunrise, chances to have this certain type of fun should hold a considerable amount of value RIGHT NOW. You’re young, so be young. Have fun yo.
No comments:
Post a Comment