As an overworked, constantly stressed and generally incapable college student, I often ask myself: Where’s the balance? Among school, church, extracurriculars, friends, working out and eating healthy, I often find myself lacking sleep and energy. It only gets worse (I hear) once you graduate college.

How hard do you work? How much do you sacrifice sleep? How often do you ignore the twitching eye or the intense exhaustion? Is college really a place to be completely overwhelmed at all times? IS there a way to find balance?

My answer is yes. It all comes down to three things: Jesus, Time Management, and lots of Forgiveness. Let’s break it down.

1. Jesus

Hebrews 12:2
Looking away unto Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down on the right hand of the throne of God.

That means we look away unto Jesus, in the midst of our education. We realize that while, yes, school is important, there isn’t anything more important than the Lord. We realize that every single situation that goes on in our lives is yet another opportunity to turn back to the Lord. We can be rebellious and we can be stubborn. Even though we have the Lord living in us, we fail to turn to Him on a daily basis. Because the Lord gave us a free will, He will never force us to turn to Him. But such is His heart toward us, such is His desire to be one with us, that He will arrange our circumstance. He will arrange our environment and sometimes cause us a little bit of stress so that we have no other choice but to turn to Him. Every time we are presented with a new struggle, another paper or another stressful event, we should have this principle in view. If we do, we will no longer see our shortcomings and obstacles are such, but as an opportunity, as a chance to gain something of God.

2. Time Management

Ephesians 5:16

Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.

This is one I really am working on. Like right now. We always say we don’t have time. In fact, we insist that 24 hours is not enough hours in the day. We definitely do not have enough time to read the bible or spend time with the Lord. Yet, if we evaluate our days and analyze how many hours we spend scrolling through Instagram, watching Netflix and just generally wasting time, we would see just how much time we do have. Something that helps me is keeping a calendar. I plan out what I need to do every day. It may be up to 70 things in just one week, but that means 10 things a day. I can do 10 things a day.

3. Forgiveness

Ephesians 4:32

And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ also forgave you.

This one is very crucial. Forgiveness is the key to carrying on with your life. We cannot be kind to one another if we are not first kind to ourselves. Sometimes we get lazy and put off our work until the last minute. Sometimes we forget to turn an assignment in on time. Sometimes we don’t email back that person about that thing. Sometimes we don’t show up to club meetings because we overslept. Sometimes we mess up. It is okay. It is so okay! We are doing the absolute best we can. We need to learn to forgive ourselves for the mistakes we make. Mistakes cause us to grow, they teach us how advance, and they are just a part of every day life. We cannot avoid them so instead; we should embrace them!

Balance is the true key to success. Balance in our relationships, in our friendships, in our meals, and in our college years. This balance is what keeps us sane. This balance allows us to go on, this balance allows us to have joy in the midst of chaos and this balance sets the tone for the rest of our lives.