"We are always getting ready to live but never living.”

–Ralph Waldo Emerson

We are all rushing to finish college. We are all rushing to get an internship. We are all rushing to get a job. We are all rushing because our parents are telling us to. We are all rushing because we are constantly comparing ourselves to other people's success, so we don't fall behind. We are all rushing because we feel guilty slowing down. We are all rushing for success.

But when was the last time you relaxed? When was the last time you had little to no worries? When was the last time you were happy going in your own direction?

We are constantly stuck in a cycle of rushing things, and we never stop to admire life and everything around us. We never stop to relax and take things slowly. We are constantly pressured and anxious about being left behind in a crowd when we should have gone at our own pace and become a leader on our own terms. Here are ten reasons why you should not rush in life:

1. You Will Not Be Happy

Some people I know have habits of rushing things, even in situations that do not benefit them in the long run. They rush to the train station to get on the train on time, and when they miss it by a few seconds, their world feels like it is crumbling down. Everybody wants to graduate on time or less, so they constantly take many classes to get on track. However, they are severely stressed out, and sometimes they don't have time to hang out with friends. The feeling of rushing prevents you from experiencing fun things in life because you feel they will slow you down, and when you slow down, you feel guilty and left behind.

2. You Will Constantly Be Anxious

Anxiety is such a terrible feeling to have, especially when it keeps building up. When you rush things, you build on some expectations in order to satisfy your needs. However, you also open up anxiety on your way because if your expectations fall short, you panic or feel down and out. You are scared and anxious to not feel left behind. You want to catch up with the crowd. You feel uncomfortable when things aren't going your way, or you are slowing down. You will always feel impatient in situations that don't have to do with your personal tasks.

3. It Is Unhealthy

This involves physical AND mental health. Mentally, you will be stressed, anxious and unhappy. You could fall into a depression or other mental issues along the way. If that is the case, it is okay to get some help because we sometimes can't do it alone. Physically, when you rush things through life, your body could take a toll. You might miss out on sleep because you want to get things done. You might skip some meals, or you might not go to the gym because you feel too busy. You might overwork your body to the point that it could give up on you.

4. It Will Affect Your Decision Making Skills

Sometimes, when you rush through life, you may take on some additional tasks along the way in order to not feel lazy or slow down. Instead of saying no to things that are not your priorities, you accept them, so you don't burden someone or yourself. However, the addition of other tasks could fill your plate too much and take up so much time that you start to rush even more, and your decision making skills could be messy and unorganized.

5. You Will Miss Out On Opportunities

Whether a girl or boy asks you out on a date or relationship, or getting a job is fun but doesn't really benefit your priorities, or you have the opportunity to go abroad for free, you will miss out on other things in life. You could have made lots of money. You could have gotten a sweet and loving relationship. You could have ran into KPOP stars in the streets of South Korea. Instead, you just want to rush through to where you want to go.

6. People Around You Will Leave You

Because you want to get things done, you refuse to have fun (which is ironic if you read the fourth reason). People will slowly realize that you are out of their reach to hang out, and eventually, they will no longer contact you because they will always think you are busy. And by the time you get some free time, they see you as a distant person, or they just don't want to put up with you. This applies to relationships as well. When your significant other realizes you put your work first over people, they will leave you because they feel neglected.

7. You Will Procrastinate

When you set aside your priorities for other tasks, eventually, you will find yourself procrastinating. Priorities are there for a reason, so as not to leave things for the last minute. When you add on other tasks, you feel pressured to take them on, and you might forget your original priorities for a while until the deadlines approach.

8. You Will Struggle

We all want to rush to finish up tasks and such. You want to rush through your education to finish. Eventually, when you get to where you want, you will struggle. Instead of slowing down to learn the basics of this and that in school, you sped through it. Instead of slowing down to learn how to work and communicate with your peers, you did things on your own, and now, you aren't a great team player. Things that may have been picked up earlier in school may now be a blockage on your destination because you rushed.

Solution

Slow down. Admire yourself and what is around you. If you can, just say no. Don't add on more things on your plate. Don't multitask, and do one at a time. Relax and have fun by hanging out with friends, watching a movie, playing video games, and eating pizza.

If you don't, at your old age, you will feel unsatisfied and regretful, and you will wish you want to go back and start over.

Live life with little to no regrets. Not only you should work hard, you should also play hard. Don't rush, because success comes in all ages.