If You're Not Excited By Life, Change Your Perspective | The Odyssey Online
Start writing a post
Student Life

If You're Not Excited By Life, Change Your Perspective

The secret to everything lies in your perspective.

138
If You're Not Excited By Life, Change Your Perspective
Paige Wilson

For the majority of my life, I've been hard pressed with ambitions to better myself as a person. In elementary school, I developed a longing to be kind to everyone. I staked kindness as my priority in character. In middle school, I worked hard to become the best equestrian I could be (#horsegirlforever). When horseback riding abruptly ended for me, I felt called to involvement in my high school and invested all my free time in clubs, sports, and my friends. I felt like each of these could pour into me and create a better version of myself.

While none of this bad, the majority of my thoughts over the past ten years of my life have been centered around improvement and bettering myself. I never stopped once to acknowledge how much I actually accomplished and the person I had become. I believe my thought processes over the past years of my life had drained me and stolen some joy out of everyday life.

Don't get me wrong, I definitely had many happy moments every day. But I think I could've had so much more joy in simply living if I had changed my perspective.

Last night, I read through all my old journals. I started journaling in my sophomore year of high school, so I had four years of growth, struggles, and memories to read through. These journal entries really put everything I had gone through in life up until this point into perspective. Hindsight is 20/20, but I found the reason for every season of life I had undergone through reading my old journals.

They made me realize that worry and stress are not worth mulling over. Circumstances are temporary, so why let them steal our joy? In the moment, struggles seem daunting. However, time does not stop for anything. Everything only lasts a season, and if we arm ourselves with this perspective, joy can be found in the simplicity of living.

After reading back through everything I had grown from, I realized that my current issues were not worth stressing over. I realized this because I know at some point in the future I will have conquered these stressors. And I know my future self would want me not to stress, but to enjoy the season.

I know this because I wish I could tell my past self not to stress.

We have this amazing opportunity to grow, to experience life, to meet people, to explore places, and to discover ourselves. This is all done through trials of many kinds, but none of which is worth giving up our joy.

I have this new perspective that I am excited about. I don't expect life to be perfect, and I don't expect to be free from difficulties. Nor do I expect everything to be sunshine and rainbows.

Nevertheless, I know everything only lasts for a season, and I know joy is deeper than a circumstantial emotion.

Life is exciting. We never know what is going to happen, who we are about to meet, or where we are going to end up. Let this excite you, too.

There is so much to look forward to, don't let this present season get you down. Find the joy even in your deepest valleys.

Report this Content
This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
Gilmore Girls
Hypable

In honor of Mother’s Day, I have been thinking of all the things my mom does for my family and me. Although I couldn’t write nearly all of them, here are a few things that moms do for us.

They find that shirt that’s right in front of you, but just you can’t seem to find.

Keep Reading...Show less
Relationships

10 Reasons To Thank Your Best Friend

Take the time to thank that one friend in your life you will never let go of.

3282
Thank You on wooden blocks

1. Thank you for being the one I can always count on to be honest.

A true friend will tell you if the shirt is ugly, or at least ask to borrow it and "accidentally" burn it.

2. Thank you for accepting me for who I am.

A best friend will love you regardless of the stale french fries you left on the floor of your car, or when you had lice in 8th grade and no one wanted to talk to you.

Keep Reading...Show less
sick student
StableDiffusion

Everybody gets sick once in a while, but getting sick while in college is the absolute worst. You're away from home and your mom who can take care of you and all you really want to do is just be in your own bed. You feel like you will have never-ending classwork to catch up on if you miss class, so you end up going sick and then it just takes longer to get better. Being sick in college is really tough and definitely not a fun experience. Here are the 15 stages that everyone ends up going through when they are sick at college.

Keep Reading...Show less
kid
Janko Ferlic
Do as I say, not as I do.

Your eyes widen in horror as you stare at your phone. Beads of sweat begin to saturate your palm as your fingers tremble in fear. The illuminated screen reads, "Missed Call: Mom."

Growing up with strict parents, you learn that a few things go unsaid. Manners are everything. Never talk back. Do as you're told without question. Most importantly, you develop a system and catch on to these quirks that strict parents have so that you can play their game and do what you want.

Keep Reading...Show less
friends
tv.com

"Friends" maybe didn’t have everything right or realistic all the time, but they did have enough episodes to create countless reaction GIFs and enough awesomeness to create, well, the legacy they did. Something else that is timeless, a little rough, but memorable? Living away from the comforts of home. Whether you have an apartment, a dorm, your first house, or some sort of residence that is not the house you grew up in, I’m sure you can relate to most of these!

Keep Reading...Show less

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Facebook Comments