Right now, I'm in a pit. Not an actual one - otherwise I would have to make a couple calls to get some decent Wi-Fi down there. No, I'm in a metaphorical pit. As a guy who gets sick a lot and has occasionally been referred to as a "human petri dish," this has been an especially difficult semester. At one point, I even spent a few days in the hospital and needless to say, I've missed A TON of class and homework. I missed work a few days, and I even missed some work with my job as Editor-in-Chief as well (shout out to my main man, my fraternity brother and Contributing Editor Adam Pohlabel for kicking major butt while I was out of commission). From all the stuff that I missed, I realized that I just fell into a pit in life.
And you know what else I realized? It's natural, it happens to all of us, and it's nothing to be ashamed of.
I'm no stranger to depression in the past, but this isn't what I'm talking about right now. I don't feel depressed, I don't feel like my life completely sucks. In fact, it's really opened my eyes to how many absolutely wonderful the loved ones in my life are, and how fortunate I am. I'm in school, I've got two rockin' jobs, and I have the full support of my family and my fraternity.
But no, this pit I'm talking about isn't new to me, but it's probably one of the strongest feelings I've had of it. As a senior, in classes with a lot of homework, I have two weeks to make up in basically the matter of a week with two jobs, while being the VP of Theta Xi. And honestly, frequently throughout the day as I'm trying to conquer these tasks, I keep thinking to myself: "Sh*t, how the hell am I gonna pull this off?"
I'll tell you how: hard work and focus. And this is something that can really relate to anyone reading this. No one isn't busy these days. From college students to full-fledged adults, we all have plenty of stuff on our plates. At some point, everyone can feel the anxiety of having a lot of responsibilities, and very little time. The only way to handle it is one thing at a time. Sit down, plan out what you need to do, and when you're going to do it, and handle one thing at a time. Because if you worry about things further down the road when you have something to handle right now, you won't be in the moment to properly handle the now.
For example, I'm writing this article right now. I also have Italian homework due by 8 a.m., an English quiz on Friday, and a ton of work due by Monday. My weekend, which will be the first weekend in weeks that I haven't been either A) in the hospital and/or B) sick as a dog and on antibiotics, will probably be spent 100 percent in the library whenever I'm not at work. Work is legit going to be my study break. And you know what? That's okay. Because I'm going to handle things one at a time, and climb my way out of the pit one step at a time.
