Life seems to be an unending quest for happiness. We are faced with a life that is realistically devoid of purpose, and we wander this earth blindly reaching out in front of us, groping around for any morsel of meaning and/or truth. Happiness sometimes seems like an unsolvable puzzle and we seem to think that somewhere out there is one solution, or a certain combination of elements which can fill the general emptiness that we experience. Is happiness, as a state of being, only an illusion? There cannot be some predestined path- some destination that we just have not reached yet. If we spend our lives tracking down happiness, do we not set ourselves up for a repetition of disappointment every day that we do not find it? Happiness is generally a spontaneous phenomena, spurred by stimuli from the external world. Not to say that we are destined for perpetual unhappiness; More like a natural state of uncertainty. An acceptance of the unknown. A humble admittance of our general ignorance in the face of questioning purpose and truth. I believe that we can more fully appreciate joy if we do not expect it because we are not entitled to it and more often than not, it will find us before we find it. Rather than seeing your life as a quest for happiness, accept it as a constant cultivation of being. In that way, you are propelled forward rather than fooled into settling for what you may assume to be the long sought after destination of your “happy life” because you fear that if you step away from that feeling for even a moment, it will be gone forever. Happiness is fleeting. Trying to tie it down to an environment or an object is like plucking an animal from the wild and placing it in a cage on display. It will eventually lose its spirit, and lose its mysterious beauty. It becomes predictable and less magical. So will your joy if you think it is meant to settle down. A “search” is an exhausting prospect, but a “journey” is revealing and prosperous. Joy is a spirit that manifests itself in an innumerable amount of situations, people, places, sensations, and experiences. Instead of seeing yourself as unhappy until you find your happiness, feed your uncertainty. Absorb all that life offers you and let your happiness find you. Let it catch you off guard while you are cultivating your being, and it will be all the more enchanting and beautiful.
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1. For all of the endless hugs and kisses you always seem to smother me in.
2. For teaching me how to cuddle and being the best cuddle buddy still to this day.
3. For teaching me some of the best "mom dance moves"
4. For pushing through all of the sleepless nights and still being super mom.
5. For not killing me every time you found me cutting my own bangs.
6. For showing me all the classics and helping me develop a good taste in movies.
7. And for watching the ridiculous reality TV shows with me because no one else will.
8. For helping me with all of that awful homework that even you couldn't understand.
9 For giving us a taste of our own medicine when we needed it.
10. For setting my curfew at a reasonable hour to ensure I didn't get into any mischief. (I was still able to accomplish a little mayhem though)
11. For spoiling me as a little girl but making me do chores as I got older. I now understand the point of having a clean house.
12. For being the best host to all of the weird friends I would bring over.
13. And for standing up for me when those weird friends stabbed me in the back.
14. For listening when I needed to vent and always giving the best advice possible.
15. For being the absolute best cook. No arguments there.
16. For answering every single phone call and the millions of questions that I always have.
17. For letting me form my own identity and encouraging me along the way.
18. For going on shopping dates with me and always telling me your honest opinion.
19. For rolling the windows down and singing along to the music with me.
20. And for being the best mom possible. I love you!
1) Hot showers
Anything with steam. The bathroom in my apartment has a built-in vent system when you flip on the light. However, this isn’t very helpful when you’re congested and you’re trying to use the steam so that you can breathe again. There are two options; 1) you can keep off the lights and use the flashlight on your phone to light the bathroom or 2) you can boil water in a pot, remove it from the heat, cover your head with a towel, and inhale. It looks really weird and you have to be careful not to burn your face on the steam, but it helps clear out some congestion.
2) Over-the-counter medicine.
Vitamins, supplements, Airborne, Mucinex, Dayquil, Nyquil (for bedtime), all of it. When self-medicating you have to make sure that you’re not taking too much of one type of medicine. Use Google to make sure your meds are compatible. Also, read all of the directions; you don’t want to accidentally take too much of something. If you’re feeling nauseous, eat peppermints.
3) Honey.
Honey is a natural healing-agent. If you have a sore-throat you can coat it with the honey. Raw-honey is the most effective type when trying to make yourself feel better. Also, honey in tea is amazing.
4) Tea.
You’ll feel like a damn Brit. (lol, JK love those Brits!) Actually, though, chamomile tea is really good, there're types of tea that help promote relaxation (I love those). You can brew up some tea, put honey in it and it tastes sooooooo yummy! It also helps you sweat out the sickness, stay hydrated, and the steam from the cup helps congestion. Same thing goes for soup, plus it tastes delicious.
5) The expensive tissues.
Yes, it's tempting to buy the super cheap tissues because college kids are poor, but when you’re going to be blowing your nose 80,000,000 times a day, splurging a bit for comfort is the best option.
6) Vicks.
Do you know how many ways you can use Vicks chest rub (or the rip-off brand) to help yourself get better? It’s insane how many places this stuff helps! For a congestion, under the nose clears that out. A cough, putting Vicks on your chest helps you breathe easier. For a sore-throat, you can rub it on your neck and throat and it’ll ease the pain. The weirdest, but best, place to put Vicks is on your feet. It will cause you to sweat. It’ll make the fuzzy stuff from socks stick to you, but it works so well!
7) Rest and avoid alcohol.
I know, rest is hard because we have so much work to do but take an hour long break every once in a while, go to bed at midnight instead of 3, avoid partying. It sucks if you like parties and want to go out, but your body will thank you and you will feel better with the weekend off!
8) Call your mom.
I’m pretty sure this is advice that I give in everything that I do. My mom is a major supporter of me though, and I do call her a lot. She took care of me for my entire childhood, she took care of my sister too. Mom’s have life experience and just know how to help their children if they can. Even though my mom isn’t anywhere near my school, when I’m sick she comforts me and makes sure I’m doing everything possible to feel better, because she’s my mom and that’s what moms do.
9) Go to the doctor.
If you think you really have to. Personally, I avoid doctors on campus, I try to avoid them at home too. I’d much rather take care of myself with honey and over-the-counter stuff but to each their own.
In college, it takes 0.0000002 seconds to catch a sickness that can put you out of the running for a really long time if you don’t take care of it. When I do all of the things listed, except go to the doctor, it takes me about a week or week and a half to fully recover. Best of luck avoiding the on-campus plague, the odds are not in your favor.
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