Being in college is not easy. No, scratch that–being an adult is not easy. There are so many moments when people call upon you to carry out this duty or to help them with a project or something along those lines. Sometimes, it is easy to get caught up in the hustle and bustle of things because the ends justify the means. And let’s face it, we all like to see the fruits of our labor, yes? But very frequently, we should ask ourselves, “What have I done for myself lately? Have I been adequately rewarding myself frequently?”
Art of No Theory— I think that the majority of the people I come across would say that I am a very nice person. I tend to enjoy helping others when they are in need and get great pleasure by taking the load off of others’ backs. However, in my opinion, if I am taking the load off of someone else’s back and placing too much of a heavy load onto my own small shoulders then there is a problem. There are just certain times in your life where you have to say no to certain engagements even when it hurts you to do so. I used to honestly think that whomever I would say “no” to would hate me forever but I realized that the people I’ve come across usually aren’t that evil.
Tolerance and Intolerance—Now here is another one that I had to learn many times throughout life. A lot of people think I’m a very sassy individual; however, I do tend to keep my mouth shut at times when people offend me because I just want to quell the tension and change the subject to something more light-hearted. But ultimately, I still feel that soreness in my heart when someone offends me and that pain lingers because I didn’t let that person know immediately when he or she said it. And because I did not say anything, there is a greater chance that he or she would continue to speak to me in that offensive manner. I definitely believe in doing to others, as you would have them do to you. However, I also believe in “checking” people and letting know that they cannot talk to me in any sort of way. And when you do this, I believe, you are holding yourself in very high esteem and people will do the same.
Rewards–What have you done for yourself lately? No really–what have you done for yourself lately? If you cannot answer this question immediately, that might be a problem. Ever so often, you need to sit and ponder at all that you have accomplished big and small, noticed and unnoticed by other people. You need to do more than pat yourself on the back. Get your nails done, get a massage, take yourself out to dinner, or just snuggle in your snuggie and watch your favorite film. Why? Because you deserve it! Sometimes, we can be in environments that distort our thinking into believing that we need to work non-stop. But you always need to give yourself rewards at certain checkpoints so that you will not burn out.
Well, that’s all for now, Princetonettes. Until next time!
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Princeton chapter.