Why It's OK To Not Be OK | The Odyssey Online
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Health and Wellness

I Know You Know It's OK To Not Be OK, But You Need To Feel It, Too

Embrace the entirety of life.

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I Know You Know It's OK To Not Be OK, But You Need To Feel It, Too

Today, it is easier than ever to think that everyone else's life is perfect, that everyone is always having the best time. However, it is safe to say that is no one's reality. Every person in this world has days where nothing goes right. And as terrible as they may be those bad days are actually an important part of life and growing up.

Living in a world where we can document our lives and publish them for all to see has its pros, but it also has its cons.

This ability to share every fun thing we do — every experience we have — is new and exciting. But, we are still figuring out how to take it all in. Snapchat and Instagram are like windows into people's lives. The thing with these windows though is we only get a look at what the person on the other side wants us to see. This one-sided outlook has rooted the idea that bad days and feelings don't exist. Reinforcing that notion are tweets, and VSCO graphics saying "Life's short. Live every moment to the fullest!" or "Every minute being sad is 60 seconds of wasted happiness." While it is easy to latch on to those notions, accepting them is selling yourself short.

Living life to the fullest is accepting those bad days.

It's letting yourself cry, and exploring those emotions that are driving you insane. We are all intertwined in this idea that life should just be perfect, and when it's not then something is wrong. When actually, it may very well mean things are going right. Whatever obstacle you are facing, dealing with it helps shapes you into who you are and who you are going to be.

Our lives are a continuously growing story. With a new page or chapter being added every day. We hope every story has a happy ending. But in order to appreciate that happiness, you need to experience the bad. Because with every smile, every laugh shared with your best friends, every time you have one of those moments looking around to realize wow how in love you are with life at that moment. Those moments wouldn't be as sweet without some sour every now and then. I'm not saying those times don't suck, trust me I know they do. But that's the yin and yang of life. For every good, there is a bad — so make the good worth it. That is what it means to live life to the fullest and take advantage of every moment.

It is accepting the entirety of life.

Find that way to cope with what is going on, find that friend that no matter how many times you have gotten upset about the same thing will still listen. Let yourself feel, let yourself grow. Share those fun moments to your Snapchat, but don't feel as though your more negative emotions are invalid. Give yourself a chance to grow. Being sad, being mad, it is all apart of healing, and moving on in life. Take the time to know not being OK is OK.

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Student Life

The 5 Painfully True Stages Of Camping Out At The Library

For those long nights that turn into mornings when the struggle is real.

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woman reading a book while sitting on black leather 3-seat couch
Photo by Seven Shooter on Unsplash

And so it begins.

1. Walk in motivated and ready to rock

Camping out at the library is not for the faint of heart. You need to go in as a warrior. You usually have brought supplies (laptop, chargers, and textbooks) and sustenance (water, snacks, and blanket/sweatpants) since the battle will be for an undetermined length of time. Perhaps it is one assignment or perhaps it's four. You are motivated and prepared; you don’t doubt the assignment(s) will take time, but you know it couldn’t be that long.

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Student Life

The 14 Stages Of The Last Week Of Class

You need sleep, but also have 13 things due in the span of 4 days.

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black marker on notebook

December... it's full of finals, due dates, Mariah Carey, and the holidays. It's the worst time of the year, but the best because after finals, you get to not think about classes for a month and catch up on all the sleep you lost throughout the semester. But what's worse than finals week is the last week of classes, when all the due dates you've put off can no longer be put off anymore.

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Student Life

28 Daily Thoughts of College Students

"I want to thank Google, Wikipedia, and whoever else invented copy and paste. Thank you."

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group of people sitting on bench near trees duting daytime

I know every college student has daily thoughts throughout their day. Whether you're walking on campus or attending class, we always have thoughts running a mile a minute through our heads. We may be wondering why we even showed up to class because we'd rather be sleeping, or when the professor announces that we have a test and you have an immediate panic attack.

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Lifestyle

The Great Christmas Movie Debate

"A Christmas Story" is the star on top of the tree.

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The Great Christmas Movie Debate
Mental Floss

One staple of the Christmas season is sitting around the television watching a Christmas movie with family and friends. But of the seemingly hundreds of movies, which one is the star on the tree? Some share stories of Santa to children ("Santa Claus Is Coming to Town"), others want to spread the Christmas joy to adults ("It's a Wonderful Life"), and a select few are made to get laughs ("Elf"). All good movies, but merely ornaments on the Christmas tree of the best movies. What tops the tree is a movie that bridges the gap between these three movies, and makes it a great watch for anyone who chooses to watch it. Enter the timeless Christmas classic, "A Christmas Story." Created in 1983, this movie holds the tradition of capturing both young and old eyes for 24 straight hours on its Christmas Day marathon. It gets the most coverage out of all holiday movies, but the sheer amount of times it's on television does not make it the greatest. Why is it,
then? A Christmas Story does not try to tell the tale of a Christmas miracle or use Christmas magic to move the story. What it does do though is tell the real story of Christmas. It is relatable and brings out the unmatched excitement of children on Christmas in everyone who watches. Every one becomes a child again when they watch "A Christmas Story."

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student thinking about finals in library
StableDiffusion

As this semester wraps up, students can’t help but be stressed about finals. After all, our GPAs depends on these grades! What student isn’t worrying about their finals right now? It’s “goodbye social life, hello library” time from now until the end of finals week.

1. Finals are weeks away, I’m sure I’ll be ready for them when they come.

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