If there is one thing I have learned in college, it’s that there will be days when life is simply exhausting. Often, you will feel defeated. There will be days when nothing goes to plan. There will be days when staying in bed seems like the best alternative. And you’ll ask yourself "why me" more times that you care to count.
There will be days when you feel like the universe is against you. Your alarm will go off 20 minutes late, and you’ll miss your bus for the second time in a week. You’ll spill hot coffee down your new sweater and have no choice but to wear it to class anyway. And on that day, you’ll run into the boy you’ve been talking to, and you’ll be embarrassed by your disheveled hair and the stench of mocha wafting off your sleeve.
There will be days when you can’t seem to say the right thing. Every word out of your mouth will be insulting, and you’ll be instantly transformed from friend to foe. On this day, your heart will ache at the thought of hurt feelings. And, for a while, with every sentence, you will feel like you’re walking on eggshells.
There will be days when you question your talents. A professor will return a midterm and you won’t get the grade you thought you had earned. And on this day, you’ll feel like giving up a little. You’ll question whether you chose the right path, and you’ll wonder for quite some time if you’ll ever be good enough.
There will be days when you feel rejected. You’ll put yourself out there in every way imaginable. You’ll apply for jobs. You’ll exude confidence. But, too often, you’ll get kicked down. Your inbox will fill to the brim with phrases like “I regret to inform you” and “we are pursuing other options.” You’ll go on dates. You’ll let him kiss you goodnight. But your heart will ache when he never responds to your last text.
There will be days when you feel uncertain. You’ll grow hopelessly weary of the in-between. You’ll wonder what it would be like to just know, to know if you’ll ever hold your dream job, to know if you’ll ever marry, or to just know if you’ll be OK down the line. You’ll wish there was a crystal ball that could show you a glimpse of the future. Because, too often, the journey is frustrating.
And after too many of these days, you’ll start to feel like life’s punching bag. You’ll find yourself exhausted. You cared too much, tried too hard, and gave it your all, only to have the world give you very little in return. You’ll feel like throwing up a little white flag and screaming with the little bit of breath you have left: I surrender. You win, world.
But you don’t.
Everyone gets discouraged. Today, you feel utterly defeated. There’s a tiny part of you that just wants to hide from all the rejection and hurt. But there's a larger part of you that knows tomorrow is a new day. So you take a deep breath and you put faith in the uncertainty. Because it’s the best we can do.
