On Instagram reels, there is this one specific clip that makes me feel very seen. The video simply shows a person clicking on three switches that switch on and off when clicked. Each switch is labeled with one of three labels; good social life, good grades, good sleep. But the part of these videos that have allowed them to go viral is the fact that once you click two buttons, the third button makes one of the other two turn off again. Basically, you can never have all three on at once. It shows that it is very difficult if not impossible to have all three at once. This idea applies to real life too, especially in college! I have never really felt this way during my entire time in middle or high school, but once I moved to college, I immediately started to understand this struggle so well.
It is widely known that balance is important but, in all honesty, balance is nearly impossible. During the main framework of a school week, balance can be very different for every individual student, and at the same it can become impossible to obtain. Along with the traditional three switches, most students would have many more. For example, I would have good rowing performance, good grades, good sleep, good healthy eating habits, good mental health, good social life, and good spiritual life. Yes, there are a lot of switches to juggle and often I feel disappointed because I know some of these are put on the back burner to compensate for the extra effort needed for others. Though even when a perfect balance is not met, success is still possible. We do not need to do everything at 100% max effort, as long as we put forth our best effort at that moment, we are doing our best!Â
My number one piece of advice that I have learned as a college student is that it is ok to not have a perfect switchboard! I once heard on a podcast, where a personal trainer/ athlete was asked “how do you balance everything” and they replied, “I don’t”. This is truly so refreshing to hear. So often, people act like they have everything in order and that they can devote an equal amount of time to everything, but in reality, this is not possible. I have really tried to be at peace with the idea that every day, all my goals will not be met, and everything will not be perfect, but that is ok. Often, getting down on yourself about messing up one specific aspect will just make a snowball that hurts all the other aspects. Â
To wrap this up, I think the best thing to do is to put effort into the things you can control and have pride in what you do accomplish. It is ok if there are some things that might not get enough attention. Those things can take priority in the future and eventually everything will work itself out!Â