If you’re breathing and have a pulse, congratulations! You’re alive! But are you truly living?
“The millions are awake enough for physical labor; but only one in a million is awake enough for effective intellectual exertion, only one in a hundred millions to a poetic or divine life. To be awake is to be alive. I have never yet met a man who was quite awake.” – Henry David Thoreau.
This is the only life you have. Even if you believe in reincarnation, your present existence is unique to the moment. Every time you think to yourself, “I can’t wait for this to be over,” or, “I can’t wait until tomorrow,” you are not truly living. That’s not to say that you can’t look forward to future events while truly living in the moment; however, to truly live is to enjoy as much of life as you can.
Take a step back, life is beautiful.
Of course, life can be very taxing and difficult at times. To truly live is to be mindful and aware of events and take everything as it is. There are going to be times when it seems like everyone is the same, every day is the same…same s***, different day. How can you possibly truly live when there’s nothing exciting to live for? Listen, it’s going to be okay. Habit easily hides what you’re not used to. Sit in the front of class, maybe next to someone you’ve never talked to before. It may seem a little obvious that class can be a great place to meet people, but how often to you really form meaningful relationships with peers who you only see in class? Also, sitting in the front of class is great because professors often make great corny jokes that you may not pick up on from the back of the room where you can sneakily use your phone.
You don’t need to dye your hair or sign up for 20 clubs to spice up your life (but if that’s what you want to do…you go girl!), try honing in on details of your day-to-day that you wouldn’t normally notice—for example—have you ever noticed that the carpet in some of the buildings on campus are made up of carpet tiles? Have you ever wondered why? How about that sign in the basement of Coleman that was installed upside-down? Have you ever counted the steps on the Stairs of Death from the Gateways to Roberts? Do you know which trees the crazy squirrels live in? If this sounds like the Pocahontas song “Colors of the Wind”, good…homegirl knew what she was talking about. “It’s the little things that count” is a cliché for a reason; noticing the little things around you can significantly enhance even the most uneventful days.
There’s an enormous amount of pressure—spoken and unspoken—to get an internship in the city with a Fortune 500 company; this pressure can be really draining and certainly stunts your ability to truly live if that’s not what you want to do. If that is what you want to do, then great! There’s nothing wrong with you if the corporate life appeals to you (just please stay ethical, my friends). But if that’s not what you want to do—don’t do it! “But my parents are literally forcing me to accept this job that I don’t want at all.” If you feel that you’re doomed to a life of dullness, change your attitude! My point is, take what you have and make the best of it. If you want to make changes to your life to begin to truly live, start by appreciating all the small things and being aware of every moment.