No Need to Rush or Win the Race

Let’s just “get through this next week” or “finish this homework” or “study for that exam”. As we approach the end of the semester I wanted to take a moment to recognize it is super easy to think like this and I wanted to acknowledge we are all victims to these thoughts. In all honesty, I feel like I’ve been taught to think like this my entire life. First it was wanting to move on to junior high, then “if only high school would start sooner”, and now I’m in college and it's like, well, what is next? We are taught to get through the day, get through the week, and get through the semester. I feel myself constantly saying “lets get through it” without saying anything about how amazing these life events are. Feeling like everything is rushed is something I’ve thought about before but it never felt like there was anything I could do about it. 

And then this last week I came across a tik tok which included a poem that made me tear up. Here it is below: 

I was dying

First I was dying to finish high school and start college. 

And then I was dying to finish college and start working. 

And then I was dying to marry and have children. 

And then I was dying for my children to grow old 

enough for school so I could return to work. 

And then I was dying to retire. 

And now, I am dying…

and suddenly I realize I forgot to truly live. 

-Nicole Zablocki

We’re conditioned to look forward to what we perceive as the next best thing without realizing the best parts of life are what we are living right now. One thing I have definitely done lately has been to say “yes” to making plans or going to do something, even if no one is available and I end up doing something on my own. We are more than students and life is not only school; it is especially easy to get caught up in working towards the next big thing. Of course I’m not saying that school isn’t important, but feeling guilty that you aren’t studying isn’t healthy either. 

Life isn’t a race and there are no rules to how quickly we accomplish things. Be present and take it all in. If we try to be present, then we have already won the race. Find your balance and work towards maintaining it. Balance is something I strive for and someday I hope we’ll achieve it together, but for now, I don’t want to rush it and neither should you. 

Jennifer Weir