10 Sayings to Tell Yourself When the Semester Gets Tough

1. “Dear me, you’ll be older one day / I’m writing from the future and you’re doing ok / Dear me, hold on to what you’ve got / Things are gonna change, but change is better than you thought” — Eric Hutchinson’s song “Dear Me”

2. “The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.”  — Ralph Waldo Emerson

3. “Keep moving, for it may well be that the greatest song has not yet been sung, the greatest book has not been written, the highest mountain has not been climbed. This is your challenge! Reach out and grab it… but there is something we can learn from the broken grammar of that mother, that we must keep moving. If you can’t fly, run; if you can’t run, walk; if you can’t walk, crawl; but by all means keep moving.” — Martin Luther King, Jr.

4. “And so it’s the same thing we try to teach our players: We can’t go back and re-create what happened last year, we can’t re-create that last game or that last play. We can learn from it, but in order to play my best, I have to be free and I have to be focused in the moment, and then it just happens.” — Milt Lowder

5. “Don’t think about the next step, or how many steps you have left, just give your attention to the one you’re on right now.” –Steve Gilbert

6. “Getting a bad grade isn’t the end of the world. In a few years, you won’t even remember most of your grades. If you get a bad grade, learn from your mistakes and prepare better for the next exam.” — Daniel Wong

7. “Look for the good in every situation. For example, I once read about a woman who was exhausted after working at a restaurant for 14 hours straight in a day. She exclaimed, “I’m tired, but it feels so good to have spent all my energy doing something meaningful like work!” With an attitude like that, you’ll always be a winner in life.” — Daniel Wong

8. “Attitude matters more than intelligence or talent. As Zig Ziglar once said, “Your attitude, not your aptitude, will determine your altitude.” Intelligence and talent play a part in how successful you become as a student and in life. But attitude matters much more. Start cultivating a positive and resilient attitude today.” — Daniel Wong

9. “Don’t feel as if you need to have it all figured out. As a teenager, I used to think that I would have everything figured out by the time I finished school. But I still don’t feel as if I have everything figured out, and I don’t think I ever will. Life is a continual journey of learning and maturing – learn to enjoy the journey!” — Daniel Wong

10. “You know, sometimes all you need is 20 seconds of insane courage. Just literally 20 seconds of just embarrassing bravery. And I promise you something great will come of it.” –Benjamin Mee, We Bought a Zoo

Take each day one at a time and focus on the present. Don’t get too hung up on one assignment or changes in your daily routine. Things have a funny way of working out in the way that is meant to be. Each day is a new day and with that brings new challenges that we can push through. Everyone is on their own timeline, which means it’s okay to do things in your own way and at your own pace. It’s okay to take time to be a human and make mistakes, as perfection is impossible.

• self-love