Everyone has goals set up whether they’re for school, jobs, relationships, or life in general. We focus on how our lives will hopefully turn out and put ourselves behind that.

Right now every one of my peers are in the time of our lives that determine who we are going to be in the future. Every test, application, performance is leading us to graduation and ultimately, the rest of our lives and it is terrifying. Some of us are jeopardizing our sanity just so we can reach our goals, whatever they might be.

Being a senior in high school my only goal right now is excelling in my classes and getting accepted into college. I dedicate so much time and effort into how I perform in school and how I’ll appear to colleges that it feels that I’m forgetting how to be myself which is far from a good thing.

I’m trying to learn how to step away from the challenges of today and look at the entire picture. Will my effort in school get me to where I need to be? Is my goal right now going to even matter to me once I reach it? Instead of anxiously waiting to see how my future self turns out, I’m trying to make my current self a better and happier person.

It’s a serious challenge to step away from what you think you need to do and focusing on yourself for just a moment. Make sure all of your time is not spent trying to better yourself for the future, instead do something to make yourself happy.