As college students we are probably more prone to being thrown curveballs than at any other time in our lives. On your own for the first time, everything is up to you, and when everything hits the fan you are left picking up the pieces. Sometimes it may seem like life is against you and things are just not going your way. However—and excuse the baseball analogy—a pitcher that throws three curveballs in a row will not be successful. So no matter how many curveballs life throws at you, a fastball down the middle is coming. You just have to wait for it.
Life may make you think everything is against you at some times. There is no way of knowing if the bad times are ending, or if more is just to come. Despite this, if you keep thinking that life is going to send more curveballs your way, you will be too busy looking for the curveball and a fastball may sneak right past you. I like to use an analogy to the time 11:11. Everyone knows that when the time reads 11:11 you are supposed to stop and make a wish. If the time that we thought was special was, for instance, 12:34, then 11:11 would be irrelevant. Looking for the bad times in life will make every negative thing to come your way more significant, and positive times may slip past.
So life may be throwing a couple curveballs your way, and you may not be good at hitting curves but sooner or later you will either be good at hitting curveballs or that one fastball that you can knock out of the park will come your way.
It's hard for anyone to understand how hard it is getting thrown curve after curve after curve but again, any pitcher that throws curveballs only has minimal success until his opponents realize what is going on.
Unfortunately, no one but the pitcher will know what he/she is throwing next. The second you start blaming yourself for the curveballs life throws at you is when you make a dire mistake. If you cannot change the outcome of something then there is no logical reason to worry. As Winston Churchill said, "Life can either be accepted or changed. If it is not accepted, it must be changed. If it cannot be changed, then it must be accepted."
Life can be tough sometimes, especially in college. Here are some things to keep in mind. If things are out of your control there is no reason to worry, be scared, or get beaten up by it, because there is literally nothing you could have done to prevent it. Secondly, no one’s life is filled with months and months and months of misfortune. Even though it may seem that the world is against you, and it may feel as if you are in the middle of a hurricane with your life swirling around you, no storm lasts forever. The sun will always be rising in the morning.
An aside: I have always been very inspired by quotes and sayings that help people through tough times.
“Life is like a boxing match. Defeat is declared not when you fall but when you refuse to stand again.” -Kristen Ashley
“Life is like a piano. The white keys represent happiness, and the black shows sadness. But as you go through life’s journey, remember that the black keys also make music.” -Unknown
"There is no person in the world who is made to handle every punch that's thrown at them. We aren't made that way. In fact, we're made to get mad, upset, sad, be hurt, stumble and fall. We aren't supposed to be able to handle everything." -Unknown
Keep on moving forward.
