By Greg Horner, Promotions Manager.
Chances are at some point in life you’re going to feel like you’ve fallen behind. Perhaps your close friend is getting married, your younger brother is buying his first house or you just realized you’ve spent eight years keeping up with the Kardashians.
You might be like me and feel that you haven’t risen to your potential. I understand the feeling that you’ll never be able to “catch up.” But have you considered what you’re catching up to?
Everyone has a different set of priorities. Do you want to be a father? A teacher? The disgraced former governor of Alaska? There isn’t a universal yardstick for measuring life and the only important thing is that you’re living your’s.
Whether you’ve just left high school or are pursuing a degree after spending 20 years in the workforce, we all have moments where we question the worth of our actions.
“Will this class really help me find a job? Is this what I want to do with my life? Am I ever going to get out of this drunk, forsaken town?”
First and foremost count your blessings. Not just the big things like the fact that you live in a modern first world country because you share that with a lot of other Americans. It’s the personal things that count and no matter how bad things are there has to be a silver lining somewhere. Are you surrounded by family that loves you? Do you have friends that encourage you to be better? Are you free from addiction or self harm? Do you have a PS4? If so, congratulations, you’ve just made a new friend and I’d love to spend some time playing it.
Going to college offers lots of opportunities to make new friends, so much so that you usually don’t have to try. Take advantage, spark up a conversation and see what you have in common whether you share the same insecurities, aspirations or obsession with “My Little Pony.”
Whatever you do don’t just sit at home and feel sorry for yourself; it’s important that you stay active and try new things. Maybe there’s a local production coming up and you’d make a great Javert (couldn’t be worse than Russell Crowe) or maybe there’s a casual softball league that meets up at your local park.
How often do you get out of town? Spend a day in Traverse City, go see a game at U of M or meet up with friends down in Kalamazoo. Seeing new places and experiencing new things is what life is all about; heck even Cass City is better than nothing. Life’s a trip, brother, so get your ticket.
Finally, start thinking about your future while still living one day at a time. That might sound like a contradiction, but it’s not. I always set goals for myself that are far out of reach and become discouraged when I fall short. Instead set shorter goals that are more obtainable, and work up to the heavier stuff in time.
As Justin Bieber said at the VMAs, “Life is a journey. Sometimes a battle, full of the unexpected. Sometimes we focus on the destination and forget to focus on that journey.” So don’t forget to stop and appreciate yourself. Whether you’re 18 or 81 you still have your very short life ahead of you.
