With the strong feeling of negativity all around us today with COVID-19 and the New England cold weather, it is important to also think about all the positive aspects of life around us as well. If we remain pessimistic and never change our perspective, we will most likely end up disappointed with what life has to offer. As spring nears, there are quite a few things to be excited about.
Although the winter feels dark, on March 14th (Daylight Savings Time) our clocks are all set an hour forward. This means that the short winter days are coming to an end. The sun, as of now, has been setting around 5:30. It will keep setting later and later leading into those warm, long summer days when you stay outside until the sun sets around 9:30. The flowers blossom, the birds chirp, and the ice cream shops are flooded with people.
Another area in which we need to focus our change in perspective is on the topic of COVID-19 and the vaccination process. More and more people every day have been getting vaccinated. By now, most of our grandparents and even some of our parents and friends have been able to get the vaccine. The aim is to vaccinate college age students at the beginning of summer, in the last group, if the rollouts go as planned. The situation requires hope; we were all originally only supposed to be out for 2 weeks, and now it has been a whole year. We don’t know what’s going to happen, so seeing the light and celebrating small steps is important.
As students at Bentley, we all know it is unfortunate that we cannot have a spring break to go somewhere fun or just take time away from school. We must instead view this from the perspective that the sooner we get everything done for our classes, the faster we get out of them. An earlier summer can have many great benefits. You can start your summer jobs/internships sooner and get more experience, you can enjoy the late spring and early summer weather more, and you can spend more time with family and friends without having to worry about a test coming up.
Lastly, it’s important to adjust our perspective on ourselves. Especially with the unpredictability of the virus and its many implications, we are all doing the best we can. If you have had one of those days where you signed up for the gym but couldn’t get out of bed, or told yourself you were going to eat better and then you end up having a big dessert after dinner, you are not alone. Our perspective is especially important in situations like this because we can often times be too hard on ourselves. Maybe you didn’t go to the gym because you did more work than usual, or you ate the extra dessert because you were celebrating a special occasion. It’s important to have goals, but it’s also important to do what’s best for your mind and body. A change in perspective can help us view our world in a new light and be grateful for what we have instead of being ungrateful for what we don’t.