If I'm being honest, I have not consistently been to the gym for two semesters now — and it's driving me insane. It's not that I'm unmotivated to go to the gym, although not going for this long does make it harder to get myself off my ass. I do want to workout. I want to increase my running time. I want to lay a mat out on the floor after a long run and let myself fall deep into stretches. I want to feel how electric my body feels when I walk out the front door of the student recreation center after pushing my body to the limit.

I miss it.

There are many reasons I don't make it to the gym on a regular basis, but none of them are illegitimate. I'm so busy doing other things I enjoy and that are beneficial to my future career that I have to sacrifice something. It's just impossible to fit everything I want to do in.

How am I supposed to stay on track to graduate, have a job (or in my case basically three jobs), be involved on campus, hold a leadership position, eat three meals a day, get enough sleep, have a social life and workout? How??

Side Note: If you're successfully managing all these things at once, please share your magical abilities with the rest of us.

In all seriousness, though, I don't think it's possible to hold everything to the same level of importance. Is it important to exercise? Absolutely. Do I need to exercise four times a week like I want to? Maybe not. But I can compromise. Maybe I work out two times a week, walk everywhere on campus and take stairs instead of the elevator. Maybe I sacrifice watching Netflix for one evening to hit the gym.

There are ways to make it work, even if it isn't how I originally planned. It doesn't matter that I sat down before the semester started and scheduled my days. The world will not adhere to words written down in a calendar. The best you can do is go with the flow and take opportunities as they present themselves to you.