“You have more to do than be weighed down by pretty or beautiful. You are a fiery heart and a wicked brain. Do not let your soul be defined by its shield.”
There comes a point in your life where you know that you need to stop, think, and meditate about who you want to be. We all reach that point at different times in our lives. I reached that point fall semester of my junior year after one of those famous party nights. I know, it sounds dumb, but when you reach a point where you lose complete control of yourself, and wake up the next morning unable to answer a text message because of the excruciating headache, you stop and think: WHAT THE HECK AM I DOING WITH MY LIFE? I have everything in my favor to succeed, plus the fact that I am lucky enough to be in college, just like you. That question popped in my head, and I realized I was unhappy, unhealthy, and going absolutely nowhere with the lifestyle I was trying to force myself into. People have always thought that I live the perfect life, that I am the perfect person, and some bullpoop that makes absolute no sense to me. I am very much imperfect, and reaching a balance where I feel happy has been very difficult for me. After I hit rock bottom, I started to prioritize and put things that mattered first.The things that matter to me are: HEALTH (mental and physical), family, school, and friends. Everything else is just things that decorate your social media, because they are completely materialistic things someone with a great marketing background made us believe were important.
Alright, so go back to the first thing on your list of priorities. YOU. I call this soul searching, just because it gives it the whole spice that it needs, and the whole point of soul searching is to find who you want to be, and how you want to go about it. Soul searching is about breaking whatever is on the outside so you can better yourself on the inside. To me it goes like this:
Find something that makes you happy. It could be a song, a picture, poetry, a book, a walk around the lake. For me, that something is quotes, and a good drive.
Start a workout routine. Make sure you include a 30 min workout into your schedule everyday. It doesn’t matter how busy you are, you can always cut down Netflix time by 30 minutes.
Take time to meditate. Every night, take 10 minutes to think about your day, and unwind.
Take out three hours of study time out of your day. Make sure you turn off your phone, and focus on your to do list; there is no better feeling than when you get things done.
Cut off the negative people in your life. Whether it is a friend, a boyfriend, or someone that just doesn’t make you feel right.
Trust your gut. Make sure you listen to your body, and your heart; they are never wrong.
Make a plan. Writing down what you want to accomplish is great motivation, and it keeps you focused on your own life.
Your life, your decisions. You don’t need approval to live your life the way you want to, and this applies to looking at how other people are living their lives. This will keep you away from jealousy, envy, and self-pity.
You got it! I believe in you, and the crazy amount of qualities you have to succeed! Life is a beautiful ride, and you are the only person you have, so go ahead and pick yourself up, and give yourself a chance. Soul searching is what your 20’s should be about.