It sucks. I know. Your bank account and your bills may be thanking you, but your camera roll is not. And in a way your soul isn’t either.

It isn’t fun hearing about all your friend’s stories about the beach and adventures they have gone on. You probably started to feel quite left out about two weeks into summer, and that feeling just got worse over the 40 hour weeks.

Although the hours of work were worth every minute when you got the paycheck, it got harder though, to get up every morning and go to work while your friends saw each other and went on adventures. But the things that you achieved over the past couple months are things to be very proud of.

You have made strides towards your future that will mean something to you in years to come, more than any product you could buy at the store. This summer you built a life that you can stand on, you learned lessons of independence and that the real world is in fact, not fair.

But is ‘fairness’ really what we are looking for? Or are we looking for reward after doing what is right?

Although the job that you spent your summer at is probably not the job you plan on doing for the rest of your life (if it is, you’re lucky) it is a job nonetheless, and is also an opportunity that was given to you in order to pursue the plans that you do have. You may have spent the summer waiting tables, watching kids, sorting clothes, making chicken nuggets, or watching kids swim.

But no matter what you did do, it was something that you probably learned lessons from that you didn’t even realize. Things such as dealing with unhappy customers, how to keep people safe, how to roll yourself out of bed, and also the true worth of a dollar that you worked for.

Growing up you were probably given money (to a point) by your parents for things, but asking is never as proud of a moment as working hard for your money and being able to call something ‘yours.'

Personally, my proudest moment this summer was driving my ‘new to me’ car, a car that I purchased alone, a car that was truly mine. Although I worked long hours, missed out on crazy adventures, and had early mornings, all those early mornings were worth it.

So when you get down on yourself for not spending all those beach days or not going on road trips, remember what you have accomplished. Remember all the ways that you have grown, the steps you have taken to be independent. Just remember, it’s all about the road getting there, then you can take a breath from the top.