I am a creature of habit; I exist in a perpetual state of organized chaos that I find profound solace in. I love it. Unfortunately, I have spent the past year living in absolute chaos instead—in just 12 months I have managed to move 4 times.

Here’s a quick breakdown:

While I waited for my first college apartment lease to begin I stayed with two friends who were kind enough to welcome me into their home and feed me copious amounts of pizza. After just a month of paying my dues to society living in a bachelor pad, I finally moved into my first apartment with three other strangers. I lived a blissful three months in a small box and then things got crazy. My apartment was soon overrun by squirrels (among other things) and after countless battles with my landlord, I called it quits. I then subleased a room in my friend’s apartment and lived the dream for another three short months off the Sheridan red line. When my time at the Sheridan Love Shack was up I moved over to the palace my current roommates and I affectionately call Sheffield Manor. Needless to say, I have hit the apartment jackpot as I now live on campus, in an air conditioned building in Lincoln Park and the best part is, I didn’t even have to sell a kidney.

Now that we’re all caught up and most of my possessions are finally in one place I can look back and reflect upon the tumultuous year I have lived. My semi-nomadic lifestyle has taught me a great deal about myself, but the most profound lesson that I have learned is that home is not as finite as we want it to be. I’ve always believed that, for me, home would be wherever my parents were. While this is a great theory that is probably stitched on a couple thousand pillows this is not necessarily a healthy mindset to have. There’s also the theory that home is wherever your friends are. Again, it is not the healthiest idea to make homes out of people.

Over the course of a few months, home manifested itself into many things for me. Home became my car where I spent quite a few nights agonizing over my squirrel-ridden apartment. Home became the library where I would fall asleep on the silent fourth floor because the quiet gave me some peace of mind. Home became me sitting on the floor of an empty room eating popcorn as I watched reruns of Gilmore Girls.

Home became wherever I wanted it to be and wherever I was willing to make the most of my circumstances.

I spent a great deal of this past year compromising on living standards, crying and building prosecution cases against my landlords. I was the definition of frustrated and before I knew it, I was drowning myself in a glass of water because I couldn’t find a decent eight foot by eight foot box to call my own.

What I realized was that none of my below average living standards mattered if I didn’t change my outlook on the situation at hand. Yes, living with squirrels is awful and I would not wish that upon my greatest enemy but it’s not the end of the world. I cannot stress enough how important it is to take a step back and breathe when your first world problems take hold of you. It is vital for the sake of your sanity to realize that while your current problems are valid, they are not the worse case scenario. Unless you are ill or dying or someone you know is ill or dying, this storm will have minimal damage to your long-term life goals, if anything this situation will make you stronger.

Second, remember that home is not a box, home begins when you make the effort to make the most of whatever hand you are dealt—chase after the silver lining. While it would be nice to have a box to consistently call your own or summon a friend or family member to be your home for the day, the reality of life is that you need to be where your feet are.

Be present in your current situation. In these moments, you get to decide where you belong. Let the record show that you don’t just have to belong to one place; belong to the world but most importantly belong to yourself. Fill your brain with nurturing thoughts, love where you are at and teach yourself resilience so that you can begin to make the most of what you have. This applies not only to the competitive “sense of belonging” real estate market but also in life.

Don’t forget, you’re already home.