I am full of angst and winded as I muster up the last bit of energy I have from finals to drive back home for the holidays. My mood is lightened as I pull into my home, draped in lights all around, and I get pounded by my dogs as I enter the front door. I throw my bags on the floor and catch up with my family. Yeah, itās the holidays, but itās the end of the year again, the time to ponder about what you have done for the year and what you expect to do the next year. Therefore, itās not just Christmas. Itās time for existential dread. And I feel like this existential dread especially sucks in college.
Did I get the grades I should have? Did I do the right extracurriculars? Is my resumĆ© going to be sufficient for the job Iām working towards? And am I going to do things I have anticipated since childhood, such as travel the world? I ponder so much around this time of the year. But then, I watch the Christmas classic āItās a Wonderful Lifeā to ring in the Christmas spirit.
There are many Christmas movies that I canāt go without watching each year, but the most captivating of them all is its āItās a Wonderful Life.ā If you havenāt watched it and you are in your late teens or early twenties, you have probably seen many TV shows parody the story.
Itās a story for anyone who finds themselves floundering around in life. The story centers around George Bailey. I donāt want to spoil the story here, but George Bailey is a man who had many ambitions for his life as an adult that he skipped out on to help those he loved. It wears on him until an angel comes to remind him that he served a great purpose in others’ lives. The angel gives him a letter that reads, āRemember, no man is a failure who has friends.ā
Itās the perfect Christmas movie to remember you are whole as you are. The most important thing to confide in this time of year is your friends and family and the little things that make you happy. This is especially important as a college student who is absolutely angsty about the future. No matter where you end up in the future or what you did in the past, your life is worthwhile no matter what!