It’s Friday night and everyone on your Twitter feed has apparently been invited to some insanely exciting party in a random person’s basement off campus. But here you are, most likely sitting in a onesie, eating a family size bag of Doritos, and binge watching Criminal Minds yet again. You’re feeling seriously uncool, and you’re questioning everything that you’re doing with your fleeting youth.
Fear not, because everyone certainly has their moments of lameness. And frankly, this situation isn’t even that lame. It’s probably definitely better than going to that horrible, smelly party with people whom you don’t even know.
Everyone is always about doing cool or exciting things all the time. At this point, it’s normal to see pictures of people at Coachella or videos from an obscure hipster band’s concert in Brooklyn. But why is it so important to be cool? Maybe it’s just because we’re the generation that has the word YOLO embedded into our souls. Maybe it’s because people our age need to be moving around all the time. Or maybe it boils down to the fact that we just constantly need to impress anyone and everyone we know. No matter what, though "coolness" is totally subjective and it really shouldn’t even matter.
Nowadays, it’s just cliche to say to people that other people’s opinions don’t matter and you should do whatever you want to do with your life. Even if it is true and most people believe it, nobody actually lives their life like this. It’s psychological that every normal person wants to impress other people and make them happy all the time. But if you’ve ever met someone who truly does not care about other people’s opinions, they’re probably
- A unicorn
- The craziest person you’ve ever had in your presence
- The coolest human on the earth
These people are quite possibly the most magical beings you will ever encounter. They never let other people’s judgments dictate their lives, and they make their own decisions with their own minds. They will almost always understand and accept your way of thinking, and they won’t judge you for it (unless you think of something freaky, like having strep throat is awesome). People like this are free and beautiful beings, and you should let them be your inspiration. They are quite honestly the coolest people because they don’t care about being cool. Simply put, when you don’t care about being cool, you actually become cooler. It’s like science, except less complicated.
When you don’t care about being cool or doing anything cool to impress others, it lifts a burden from your shoulders. You allow yourself to do the things that are cool in your eyes, and no one can stop you from doing said things. Sure, you’ll have your crippling moments when you question what other people will think about you. Once you get over that, though, the boundaries of coolness and lameness suddenly disappear, and now you can feel free to stay at home and read a book because you no longer think that’s what losers do.
Doing “lame” things can ground you. When you’re constantly seeking to do exciting and cool things, it heightens your expectations and you really can’t appreciate the simple things in life anymore. When your friends cancel their plans to go out and you have no other options but to stay at home, you become antsy and don’t end up enjoying the quietness of being alone. You no longer know how to be happy while you’re alone, and that can be tough for people who aren’t familiar with the feeling. Instead of being constantly surrounded by new and exciting environments, learning how to be comfortable with yourself can help you to realize the importance of being independent. Even if it is only for a night.
Of course, it’s important to live life to the fullest and pursue the things that you care the most about. There’s nothing more satisfying than saying you grabbed every opportunity in life to become a better person. It’s strange, but even the moments of lameness count towards your progress of becoming the human you want to be. You’d be surprised how important it can be to have simple moments of doing nothing remotely cool. Don’t be worried about being a loser. Chances are you’ll gain more than just a lame experience.
