College is deadlines. It's messing up, learning from messing up and then messing the same thing up all over again.
College is stressful, but it's supposed to be the best time of your life. It’s really easy to just try and survive, but we can thrive. Here are five steps to being happy not just in college but anywhere:
1. Don’t Be Comfortable
There’s a difference between being happy and being comfortable. Comfortable is getting everything you want—if you spend your whole life trying to be comfortable, you’ll never be happy because you’ll never have enough. Push yourself, step out of your comfort zone, make footprints down paths you never thought you’d even look down; that is adventure, that is growth, that is happiness.
When you have to be comfortable, you’re a slave to your desires and environment, you’re an addict to your wants. You don’t have to be hooked on drugs to be addicted to something you hate; the drugs we take are far more ubiquitous, less noticeable and far more monstrous. So look at the big picture: what excites you? Who do you want to be? What does your superhero look like? Find out how to become that superhero, and step out into the uncomfortable field of infinity.
2. Don’t Be An Angry Person
In a word; don’t be a butthole. Being full of hate is not fun; being full of love is fun. Nobody enjoys hurting people, no matter how much they deceive themselves that they do. Having fun with other people actually just boils down to actually caring about other people: if you care about them, you get to love them, and love is funner (yep, funner).
Only insecure and fear-full people are hateful. Don’t let others dictate your happiness; people suck, most of the time, and you aren’t supposed to depend on them for your security or identity. Get that lie out of your head. People are going to let you down, tell you that you aren’t worth anything, tell you that you don’t matter, but you can’t listen to them. You have to listen to a higher truth; become in tune with the infinite, accept the reality that you’re here, so you had to be loved before the foundations of the earth were laid; that Someone (up there) thinks you’re amazing.
3. Focus
Perspective is everything. What we focus on becomes where we are, and happiness isn’t a choice, it’s a place you can choose to be in. Choose to go there with me.
And it’s not about focusing on the good during bad times like you've probably heard. No, it’s about recognizing the good and bad in all times, and choosing the good. Like Charles Dickens wrote, "it was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” Sometimes it’s easier to look at the bad, and happiness seems far off, but it’s always there. That’s a promise.
4. Just Be
As the ancient philosopher Master Yoda said; “do or do not, there is no try.” Stop trying to become everything. Stop trying. Just be. Stop worrying about your past, and don’t fear your future; simply be in the present—there is only now.
Just be who you are, don’t try to be nice when you're not, comfortable when you’re not; being actually nice and actually comfortable is much better than faking it. There’s no use in hiding who you are, you must acknowledge your existence to grow.
So take who you are, and shape your own future; stop letting the scars of your past ruin your happiness; scars don’t come from being hurt, they come from being healed. Don’t worry, be happy.
5. Start Now
You’re always going to be stressed. You’re never going to feel ready. You have to make the choice right now, to overcome what is convenient, even logical, and decide that you’re going to be happy.
Accept the weight of your existence, accept the challenge to change the world; stop saying “I can’t,” because you’re most likely wrong. Stop worrying about everything, and just “chill.” Stop trying to make your life comfortable, stop being angry, stop focusing on all the bad stuff and just be happy—there is only now. And the whole world up to this point has been waiting for you to realize who you are, do you accept your challenge?