Today, I hear people way too many people complain about the now, especially while in college. I hear many people say, "I wish I could skip ahead to five years from now." "I wish I could just graduate now" or the usual "I wish I could meet the love of my life now." The process is frustrating for everyone, but it shouldn't be like this.
Trust me I understand the feeling. I have my whole future planned out. I am the person who likes to have a plan and goals for my life. I have thought about my career, how to build my career, where I will live, where I want to build a family, what age I prefer to be married. However, I try not don't get caught up in rushing the process of your journey.
Each day given to us is a gift. If you don't have the ability to enjoy today, how will you truly cherish tomorrow?
When you think about it, everything is falling into place collectively. You will graduate. You will get a job. You will meet the girl or the guy. You will move on. You will achieve your goals. You will strive at adulting. IT IS A PROCESS. Anything you really have your eye on in life will not always be easy. We have been trained to rush things with the age of digital media and our desire to compare ourselves to others. We have to obtain things immediately. We have to be just like the girl on Instagram or have that outfit or that career.
Yes. I admit sometimes life might suck but like the very popular saying "embrace the SUCK" because you will never be able to get that time back.
Two years ago, I learned the power of being in control of how I think through affirmations on self-love and growth. We don't take time to truly work on our inner beings enough. It truly shapes how I think and how I carry myself to this day. In addition, I started journaling again which allows me to reflect on each day through prayers, self-assessments, and how I am feeling. I know these are little things, but they are habits I have obtained and have flourished with. It affects how I see the world, myself, and how I choose to embrace every day.
Recently, I changed my major from English Literature and Journalism to Psychology and Journalism. I am at peace because I know what I want to do with my life. However, you can guess Psychology is a strenuous and all about understanding the overall concepts of the brain. You see when I started my courses, I felt the need to just give up saying to myself "Can I just skip ahead? Can I be a Psychologist already?"
I caught myself. We have to catch ourselves in these situations. We have to hold ourselves accountable for our inner thoughts. How we think impacts how we live and how we take action every day. At that moment, I wasn't truly appreciating the process and by doing so I didn't notice how hard I was working to understand the concepts or pass the class. For me thinking like this becomes ineffective and unproductive. But by holding myself accountable and noticing it right away changes how I attack the situation.
I agree the process is hard and it will test you. But it is worth it and everything you want in this life will be worth it. Changing your mindset requires discipline and the ceaseless desire to improve. Get caught up in the process. Start to acknowledge how this is shaping you for your future, for the person you are working to be.
Remind yourself: don't rush anything, now is the time to notice your mistakes and hold yourself accountable to improve. When the time is right, it'll happen but it will only happen because of the process and because of the challenges.
