Throughout my entire life, I have always and still continue to put 110 percent into all that I do - academics, sports, helping others, friendships, etc. However, I think that the one thing I forgot about along the way was to take care of myself and my well-being. Despite all that I was accomplishing, I struggled with being truly happy with all that I was doing and who I was becoming. I had trouble being confident in myself and had a wavering view of my self-image. A huge part of my personality is pushing myself and focusing on what I can do better, but I think that along the way, I forgot to celebrate all of the little accomplishments. In some ways, it is a great personality trait because it keeps me motivated and looking to do more. However, it can be detrimental as it also stops me from enjoying the view once I've climbed whatever mountain was important at the time. As goals change, we tend to forget how difficult the ones we've already conquered seemed at some point. This is why we need to take the time to be proud of ourselves for each little obstacle we overcome.
At any age and any place in life, we can be proud of ourselves. I've been trying to force myself to step back and realize all that I've done. No, I haven't cured cancer, or written a best-selling novel, or won a Nobel prize. I haven't even graduated college yet. At 8 years old, believing I could live a pretty normal life despite a new speech disorder, seemed impossible, but it happened. At 10 years old, making my high school volleyball team someday seemed like it would be a challenge, but I did it. At 13 years old, I couldn't even imagine myself being in the top 10 of my high school graduating class, but I did it. At 15 years old, thinking about ever eventually picking a college and a major seemed like it would be too hard and never happen, but it did. At 17 years old, finally actually feeling at home, making friends, and being happy away at college seemed too hard to picture, but it happened. I'm sure that everyone can make a very similar list to mine. Although these accomplishments don't seem too amazing now, at one time they seemed unattainable. This is exactly why we can't forget them. Although my goals have changed and I want to accomplish bigger and better things, at various points in my life, these five examples listed above were my main focuses and obstacles. Since I've now achieved them, shouldn't I celebrate? If not, then what's the point?
Now, I'm not saying we need to stop bettering ourselves and just throw in the towel because we made it, but I am saying that as we continue to accomplish more and more, we can't forget about all the things we've already done. We need to try to refrain from having an attitude of, "Oh well I'll be happy someday once I've accomplished all that I wanted to in life." That's great and I hope you eventually reach every goal you've ever set. However, until then, enjoy the little victories while you continue to climb higher mountains.
“Take pride in how far you've come. Have faith in how far you can go. But don't forget to enjoy the journey." ~ Michael Josephson
