The past few weeks have been incredibly busy for me. I've had to study for exams, work on projects, travel to work back home, work here on campus, go to club meetings... it feels like my To-Do list is never ending. I have all of these responsibilities, not to mention keeping up with my friends and family and still maintaining a healthy lifestyle. These are the things that are going on in my own life, but I know that my troubles don't even begin to compare with the workload some others have to take on. I'm not saying it isn't doable or I'm working harder than anyone else, but it is hard.

It's hard, but I don't hate it. It's hard, but I don't walk around complaining about everything that I have to do. I do not begrudge my professors. I do not blame my TAs. I don't mouth off behind my boss's back because I have a lot on my plate. I just do the best that I can with what I have.

It isn't easy to deal with stressful situations or busy schedules. It isn't fun staying up late at night working on homework. It isn't necessarily enjoyable when you have to drop all of your own problems to go to work and fix someone else's. You shouldn't be expected to look forward to any of it, but it isn't reasonable to let your daily schedule, no matter how crazy, put you in an awful mood. You can't just decide that you're going to have a bad day because you have to study for a test or go to work. Those are just things that you have to do; they're part of life and they don't need to be the enemy. Making them the enemy, classifying them as road blocks: that's your own choice.

You can consciously wake every morning and put a frown on your face.** You can get out of bed and automatically think of all of the "awful" things that you have to do that day. In that time that you set yourself up to have a miserable day, you could just as easily be setting yourself up to have a great one. Those same facial muscles you're using to frown can turn that face into a smile.

Instead of thinking of the awful things that you have to do, you can think of all of the things you have the privilege of doing. No matter what the situation is -- going to school, going to work, even going to the gym -- there is somebody out there that does not have the same privilege to do that activity. People without access to an education. People that, despite their best efforts, cannot find any work. People that's health does not allow them to exercise.

No matter how annoying and inconvenient your situation may feel, especially when you are comparing yourself to someone that seems to have more than you have, there is always going to be somebody longing to be exactly where you are.

The point that I'm trying to make isn't that you can't wish to have more than you have or that you aren't entitled to have a few bad days. That's to be expected. But there are so many people out there that look so negatively at every aspect of their lives that they end up forcing themselves to have those bad days. That's just wasteful.

So, make a promise to yourself that for the next week, every time you find yourself thinking something negative, think two positive things instead. Spin that sucky situation and put it in a new light. If you start trying to actively think about life in a positive way, the quality of your life will follow. I know that it's hard: sometimes it's a lot easier to think about the bad before the good. Our society has trained us to think that way, but it's time for you to take your mind -- your outlook -- back for yourself, because you deserve better.

Your attitude is everything, and in a lot of ways, it's all you really have.

**This isn't to say that everyone is in complete control of how they feel. Depression, anxiety, and many other mental health conditions can twist your mind in ways that you have absolutely no control over. These are conditions that are very prevalent and are not to be ashamed of. If no matter how hard you try, you're still feeling like nothing is getting better and you are not in control, there are many places to turn. This is a good place to start: mentalhealth.gov/get-help/.