Whether we like to believe it or not, life is relatively short. Time does not stop for anyone or anything, the world will keep on turning. On such a large scale, it may appear as if our relatively short lives are meaningless and replaceable by any other. As humans in the 21^st century, we inherently spend our lives stressing over our busy schedules, living too seriously, and struggling to find true happiness in this world. But what is the cost of living in such a manner? It is easy to claim that one may be doing all these things to relax and be happy in the future. But with our painstakingly short lives, we cannot predict anything that will happen in the future. We spend our lives obsessing about the future when we are still trying to learn from the past.

I am writing this more personal piece to hope to teach you all to make the most of every moment. Even though life is short, we can take advantage of every opportunity without sacrificing our sense of humor in the process. Sure, it may seem like a trite claim that you’ve heard hundreds of times before, but in reality, this thought and mantra may put even more pressure and stress on you to “succeed” in life.

I certainly do not mean to imply that school is a waste of time or that we should slack off in life. In fact, I believe just the opposite. It is critical that we push ourselves, preparing us to handle all the pain and challenges life throws our way. It is in this way that we will be able to deal with stress and pressure. This allows us to look at our worries with a more optimistic outlook, allowing us to live our short lives as positively as possible.

In the same way, there are too few of us who actually have fun on a day to day basis. Sadly, most of us live life too seriously and objectively. If one’s overall goal is to have fun and be happy, then why would one push that goal off until the very end of one’s life?

While I understand how difficult it can be to see past the mountains of paperwork and assignments, even the most difficult tasks have their purposes. After all, writing a dreaded paper on economics of can build your skills as a writer. Months of research could be your first step to a valuable breakthrough or discovery that could change lives.

All we can do is control our own lives. We can change our outlooks, perceptions, habits, and abilities in order to maximize our happiness and enjoyment of our short lives. All it takes is a simple perspective shift. And because a lot of us are still relatively young, maybe we can take this message and live the rest of our lives with it.

So please do not spend your college life stressing and pinching yourself for taking hard classes. Instead, live like the birds flying past a sunset: work hard, play hard, and stay free.

Carpe diem.