Though I definitely enjoy just sitting at home and watching Netflix or hanging out with my roommate, I’m a decently extroverted person. After a few days of relaxing, I get this deep urge to go on an adventure around the world, or at least around Waco. I don’t have a car, so usually my adventures are limited by the distance my legs can take me. Especially now that I’m back on campus, most of my friends are back at home, in Europe, or doing something else incredible.
It can be easy to be jealous. One scroll through Facebook or Instagram can make you mad at all of your friends for enjoying themselves. Someone’s doing a study-abroad program in the Netherlands, another is backpacking in Colorado, yet another is on a mission trip in Indonesia. After seeing the extravagance of other people’s summers, your part-time job, Netflix binge sessions, and all-day naps can seem rather…uneventful.
I’ve definitely been there. As much as I’ve loved spending time with friends and family and escaping from the responsibilities of college, I’ve been itching to do something crazy, something that fills me with wonder. Though I’m looking forward to my summer job, I think me and everyone else in the building would much rather be on vacation. Quickly, jealously can root itself in our spirits and cause us to be upset with people or upset with ourselves. Why am I not doing that? I should be there too. Soon we begin to question our own worth and feel like our lives are less than others because we’re not having moments that take our breath away every day.
Lies, lies, lies! Your life isn’t defined by what you’re not doing! Your life is so much more than expensive trips and overly-excited Instagram photos. I’ve learned more and more that life is vastly different for everyone. Whether it comes to finding a wife, getting your dream job, or recovering from past pain—everyone is on a different timetable. Especially in college, people tend to believe that they have to have every step of their life laid out until they’re 40, cruising through their power years. People think that they’re growing old too quickly and “wasting their young years,” as London Grammar would say. It’s not necessarily true.
As I said, you can’t judge your life based on what it looks like at present. You can’t judge the greatness of your summer by how what you’re doing makes other people feel. I love to see my friends enjoying themselves and making their dreams reality. I love seeing them using their summers to do incredible things for themselves and others. It’s wonderful to see and we should want to do those things too, but if you’re just working or doing summer classes or whatever, that’s great! A well-known quote states that that “familiarity breeds content.” Some things never get old, but wonderful experiences are made particularly wonderful in-part due to the fact that we don’t get to do them every day. Obviously life isn’t a monotonous abyss, but we’re usually not doing exactly what we want every single daywe have school, work, families to attend to, and other obligations. Having the special moments in our lives be special is crucial.
In any event, your summer is valuable regardless of how you’re spending it. You can make the most of it whether you’re spending each day in a new country or if you’re just spending time with friends from home. You are not your summer plans, nor are you any less because of someone else’s. Don’t let fear of missing out turn your enjoyable summer into one plagued by a bad attitude.
Live your own life, not one lived vicariously through edited snapshots of others.
