College finally begins, and then you realize you have no idea what you want to do with your life. Freshman year of college ends, and you have gone around the whole year saying you're undecided, which is the most unsettling feeling in the world because how could you not know what you want to do after spending $12,000 on maybe eight courses? Sophomore year rolls around, and finally you figure out your major (at least, you think, right?). You're given the degree plan, told which classes you need to take to graduate, and bam—you're off on your own, unsure how anything is going to turn out and freaking out every chance you get.
It's not easy to control these emotions. You just want to make sure everything goes as planned. This is both a blessing and a curse. You are so organized and so on top of things that when things do not go as planned, you feel like you're drowning and someone just placed 15,000 pounds of bricks on your chest.
When things aren't going your way, you feel like every step you take feels like a new worry, a new mistake, and you have no idea how to fix things back to the way there supposed to be.
Being scared that one wrong move will ruin everything you have worked hard for.
Wanting to be in control of everything in life can be both a blessing and a curse. It makes you the hardest working person on the planet, but when you fail, you push yourself way past square one. One step forward, 18 steps back.
Thinking the extreme of every situation.
"If I fail my econ final, my GPA is going to bottom out. I'm not going to graduate, and I'm definitely not going to get into law school."
"Why hasn't he answered me in three hours? What is he doing? He hates me."
Freaking out because you're in an argument with someone, even if it's about something small.
Arguing with anyone can be extremely stressful, and you would do anything to fix it, especially if the argument was not your choice. Thinking about every horrible scenario: Does my mom hate me? Is my best friend going to unfriend me? Is my brother going to cut off ties with me? You've been fighting with your best friend for about five minutes, and you already want things "back to the way they used to be."
When you're having a bad day, thinking no one has it as bad as you.
We all know how false this statement is, but we can't say we have never thought it. Many people have it way worse, and we know how blessed we are, but we can't say this thought does not cross our minds every so often. When things become out of our control, we couldn't imagine how things could get any worse. In the back of our minds we know things could be a lot worse, but in the moment we feel out of control and out of our comfort zone.
Your thoughts consume you.
Overthinking is the worst enemy. We are constantly thinking about tomorrow, next month, next year, and five years from now. Where will we be? Will I be successful? Will I be a loser? Will I be married? Will I graduate college? The list goes on and on and on and on.
You're really, really hard on yourself.
The only reason your so hard on yourself is because you want things to work out and you want them to work out your way, not any other way. You push yourself for your goals, and you feel like when things don't work out, it was a lack of effort.
Wanting everything to work out perfectly is an extremely unrealistic expectation, but it is an expectation we set for ourselves. In the long run, nothing works out as we expect, but it's impossible to see and know the bigger picture. It is easier to worry about and control the now in hopes of controlling the future.
