Sometimes it’s hard to stay sane with the countless stressors that go along with being a college student. Whether you are studying for exams, managing your extracurriculars, going on job and internship interviews, or even just trying to find the time to sleep, it’s easy to get swept up in the craziness and forget to remind yourself to stay grounded. With all that’s going on, try to remind yourself of these things every day:
1. You Can Do It
As simple as it sounds, you really can. It might seem like the world will end if you don’t get an A on an exam, but let me tell you this: it won’t. Obvious, right? It doesn’t seem so obvious when you’re scrambling to find the time to even shower, nevermind learning how to derive seemingly foreign economic theorems. Just remind yourself that you’ve done this before. You have been juggling it all for this long, so this time is no different. Repeat after me: I can do this.
2. Life Goes On
You know the famous song from Titanic (Who am I kidding? Of course you do.)? “My heart will go on, on, and on.” Yeah, that one. Just replace the word heart with life, and you’ve got your new life anthem! It may seem like the world is crumbling when you find out you failed an exam, missed an academic advising appointment, or didn’t get your dream internship. We all know, we’ve been there. But ask yourself this: has the world crumbled yet? Last time I checked, it was still intact. Your grades or failures do not determine your future or define you. So many other factors play into your happiness in life, and to be honest, that C you got in your chemistry class will be completely forgotten in a couple of years. Focus on the fact that you are accomplishing so much and that although the little things seem to be incredibly important, focusing on the bigger picture will bring you so much more happiness. I promise you it’s much brighter than you think right now.
3. You Are Loved
Yeah, yeah, you already know. I know it’s a bit sappy, but it is nothing short of the truth. You are surrounded by people who love and support you, whether or not you land your dream job or become student body president. So, take a step back and realize that you are putting all of this pressure on yourself to please others while all they really want is for you to be happy and for you to do what is best for you. Even the people you don’t know as well, the strangers on the quad or the professors who catch you sleeping every once in a while in class, they want you to do well too. No one wants you to fail, and no one is out to get you. Know that even with everything going on, you are constantly surrounded by a plethora of people who are on your side and want you to succeed, even if the success is accompanied by a few failures here and there.
4. Treat Yo Self
But seriously. Of course this is usually meant to be a joke, but it really is important to remind yourself that you deserve the little pieces of happiness that make life more bearable and a lot less overwhelming. If your favorite thing in the world is ice cream, then you get that ice cream after an exam you studied for all night! For other people, it’s a little different. If you need to calm yourself down after a hectic week, allow yourself a few worry-free hours. Curl up with a good book, put your headphones in and listen to some Michael Buble (or whatever you prefer), binge watch some Netflix episodes, or just cuddle up with someone you love for a bit. Everyone is different , but we are all the same in the way that we need to remember to reward ourselves for the little triumphs in life. Treat. Yo. Self. You deserve it.
5. You Are Worth it
We all have days where we just want to curl up in a ball and forget about everything. It’s common to start to blame yourself for everything that goes wrong, to begin to place so much weight on your shoulders that it becomes unbearable. Once this happens, our first instinct is to give up. Just remember that giving up will solve nothing and only enhance the negative feelings you already have. Instead, remember that you are worth it. You are worth getting up every morning and looking forward to at least one thing every single day. You are worth studying hard to prove to yourself that you can do it. You are worth feeling the love and support of those around you. And most importantly, you are worthy of happiness. Everyone is. So get out of bed, and try to appreciate something every day because you, my dear, are deserving of everything you have in your life.
When life gets tough, remembering these 5 things every day might help you realize that things are usually much better than they seem!