American society demands a fast-paced life. We see it everywhere. It can be seen on the busy streets as impatient drivers are in a hurry to travel nowhere, over Thanksgiving dinner and even when your relatives are pressuring you to get married and have kids soon. Meanwhile, you’re just trying to survive college without having another breakdown and dropping out. We even see it in our aspirations. If you don’t achieve your dreams by the ripe age of 30, you’re too old. A failure. Society conditions us to believe we have to do it all now, but that’s unrealistic. In fact, I’ll take it a step further. Slowing things down can be even more beneficial.
When it comes to college, we’re often pressured into enrolling straight out of high school. Our whole adolescent lives revolve around planning for what college we want to attend and what future career path we’ll take. However, the issue with being rushed into higher education is that not everyone has it figured out yet and not everyone is ready for college either. But that’s perfectly okay! Society wants us to think it’s a race, but it shouldn’t be. If you want to take time figuring things out, even if you’re already in college, do it!
If you push through doing something you might not enjoy later on in life, it won’t be worth it, and you could end up feeling stuck. Avoid the big regrets. Make sure you’re creating a future for yourself that you want to be living. Because ultimately, everyone who’s pressuring your future to look a certain way aren’t going to be the ones actually living it.
The philosophy of slowing things down can be applied to so many different aspects of life and it can end up keeping you healthier. With college, you don’t have to graduate “on time” like everyone insists. If you want to take six years completing your degree, eight years or even ten, don’t let anyone stop you and tell you otherwise. After all, most people don’t know you as well as you do. You understand your mental health and what can help keep you in tip-top shape. You understand what’s too much for you. Just remember that everyone has different thresholds and that life is not a competition.
Most importantly, slow down the timeline for your goals. If you’re anything like me, you probably expect to be a multi-millionaire with two mansions and five cars by the time you’re 25. Not only is that incredibly hard to do, but you’re also unnecessarily putting pressure on yourself that can cause feelings of discontentment and frustration. There’s no rush to success, and everyone can reach their goals at different times in their lives. Never let the pace of your life be contingent upon someone else’s, and don’t corner yourself into overexertion and disappointment.
At the end of the day, slowing things down could be doing you more favors than racking up all those accolades in a hurry. There’s nothing wrong with staying busy, but it’s important to make time for a breather every now and then. Most of all, don’t let others dictate the pace of your life. You decide how fast you want to live. Compare less. Slow down more. Enjoy life as it happens. If you’re too focused on the future you want for yourself, you could end up missing the good moments happening right before you.