“So many people walk around with a meaningless life. They seem half-asleep, even when they're busy doing things they think are important. This is because they're chasing the wrong things. The way you get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning.”
--Mitch Albom, Tuesdays With Morrie
“We're so busy watching out for what's just ahead of us that we don't take time to enjoy where we are.”
--Bill Watterson
“Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans.”
--John Lennon
“Get busy living or get busy dying.”
--Stephen King, The Shawshank Redemption
With finals swiftly approaching, every student
can relate: we’re all busy. Monumentally busy. Ridiculously busy. By this point
in the semester, everyone is simply worn out. Countdowns until the winter
holidays are scrawled across countless dry erase boards across campus, and
almost every time I see one, I groan. Only
8 more days? My stomach lurches. My
backpack feels heavier, reminding me of all of the stuff I have to do every one of those 8 days until I’m allowed to
finally rest. Part of me is thrilled that there are that few days until the
holidays. The other half is horrified. Where
has this semester gone?! I wonder, my stomach sinking again.
Before we all get caught up in the “busy”
(don’t misunderstand me—busy can be good), let’s all just pause for a moment. Why
has our “busy-ness” become a badge of honor? Why is being so ridiculously busy
considered so good? Personally, I’ve
started to feel inadequate or like I’m doing something wrong when I have extra
time on my hands. It’s no longer viewed as time to enjoy a walk around the lake
or escape the confines of campus to get coffee somewhere else. My first thought
has started to become this: What else
could I be doing? Should I start that project that’s due in a few weeks? There
must be something…
How terrible is that? I’m not sure everyone
else can identify with it, but I know that plagues me on a daily basis.
So, as we all attempt to tackle the mountain of
papers, projects, presentations, and tests that we face in this finals season
and end-of-the-semester mayhem, can we pledge to keep each other grounded? Yes,
tests are important, but in the end, it should not define who we are. I dare
you to find your identity elsewhere, somewhere far more worthwhile, and I’ll
try to do the same. (I promise.)
I feel like the “busy-ness” can have a tendency
to stamp the creativity out of us, narrowing our vision so that we only see the
next big project we have to do, the next big exam that always seems to get in
the way. I set you, dear reader, with one more challenge (though I know you’ve
had plenty this semester and many more to come): take some time to let your
creative juices flow and be intensely yourself. If that means you need to
write, write. If you need to paint, paint. If that means something as simple as
going on a midnight adventure after a long day of studying or exams to Waffle
House, do it. Take your time to study, but remember, first and foremost, that you
are not a machine. You are a human being that needs and deserves rest, whether
you want to admit it or not.
So get out there and do something. I dare you.
