Something that is really challenging in my life is the feeling that I need to be involved in everything. I need to keep my perfect 4.0, I need to make money, I need to have connections, I need a job, I need to take on leadership roles, I need to be at church whenever the doors are open, I need a balanced social life, I need to eat better. The list goes on forever. But lately, I am beginning to realize something that I think is super important. Maybe even life changing.

I can't do it all, and that's perfectly okay.

We live in a broken world that has many double standards. The world expects you to do everything and live a perfectly balanced life. But it also expects you to fall flat on your face, so it can label you a failure. And I think that is absolutely ridiculous!

So, I am choosing to reject the world's perspective all together. I physically and emotionally cannot do everything that I want to get done. There aren't enough hours in a day for that. Instead, I have to prioritize. And prioritizing can be scary. We want it all, we don't want to give anything up.

Prioritizing what is the most important to you is freeing.

This freedom helps you to take some of the pressure off of yourself, that you and others are putting on your shoulders. Sometimes making these decisions isn't the easiest thing in the world.

You have to learn how to say "NO."

You may have the best intentions in the world. You may really mean that you are going to do what you say you're gonna do, but time catches up with you. Life happens, and you slipped up. You're not perfect, and you bit off more than you can chew. Saying "no" to someone is better than saying "yes," and then never delivering on your promises. Having experience on both ends of this, I can guarantee that I would rather someone be straight up with me and tell me they can't do it right now, rather than being put on the back burner and having to wait on them.

As a college student, I have a lot of pressures put on me from multiple sources. Not all of these pressures are negative, don't get me wrong. But they are pressures just the same, and can cause more stress than is easily dealt with. Dealing with stress is an entirely different subject, so I won't go there here (But I went there on another article).

Other people are always going to think they know how to live your life better than you.

My advice for that is to take what most people say with a grain of salt, but treasure the thoughts and words of those who know you best and love you deeply. They know you can't do it all, and that's perfectly okay with them. They love you despite your flaws and imperfections, and they want you to live your best life. Whatever that best life looks like for you.