In the beginning of Freshman year I thought that life was a cycle of repeating moments, some happy, some sad, and so on. I thought that if you were to just wake up, go to class, get good grades, and graduate that everything would be okay and eventually you would start an entirely new cycle of getting up, going to work, feeding the puppy, and going to bed. I believed that the happiness would be found in the pattern of life if you just learned what to do that would make you happy while doing it. In a way that is still true, but in a way, I was dead wrong.

Why was I wrong? Here are some reasons.

1. No Cycle remains a fun cycle if it's never broken.

When life becomes a bland routine and the happy moments of the cycle become so predictable, you need to break free. If you live a predictable life, even the great moments in life won't seem so great anymore. It's time to turn off your TV and go out. Make friends with a stranger or smile and the people you meet on the bus. The happiness will follow when you do what you want to do unconstrained by a normal routine.

2. If your happiness revolves around one job or person constant in your life, you're doing it all wrong.

Sure it's okay to find happiness in your job or the people in your life, but if you aren't happy with yourself, you're not going to be happy, period. You must "Bee yourself!" Being yourself is the quickest way to find pure happiness in life. Doing what you love and loving what and who you love no matter what anyone else says is key.

3. Despite the fact that some people desperately cling to a routine, it's important to take every day as an adventure.

"Adventure is out there!" Around every corner new opportunities await. Just think, steps away from your normal path to work there's a coffee shop. Maybe inside that coffee shop, there's a person sitting in a corner reading your favorite book and they have the potential to be your new best friend. Or maybe behind the counter, there's a guy who works there every day and never breaks his routine until you meet and it's love. You never know what life has for you until you take a step off the path you've traveled so often.

4. If there are repeatable moments of sadness caused by a thing or a person followed with no happiness, it's okay to let them go.

It's all about being yourself. If the people in your life are causing you sadness or the things you're doing are no longer true to who you are then pursuing the things that will make you happiest. Routine can only fit you for so long because people are constantly changing.

It's okay to be different. It's okay to love what you love, who you love, and who you are. There's a quote in my friend's dorm that says, "Live loving and love living." If you live your life following that idea and being true to yourself, nothing can get in the way of your happiness.

In my junior year of college I now know that I need the people on my campus, I need nights of driving and singing way louder with my friends than is ever socially acceptable. I need to live to love and to love living. I need to be true to myself. This year has been so amazing because I finally learned what it's like to love myself and others unconditionally.