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You're Not Coal, Stop Putting So Much Pressure On Yourself To Become A Diamond

I wish that I had lived in the moment and embraced being a kid instead of trying so hard to be a mature adult.

Reganne Hoirup

Sep 23, 2018

Western Washington University

1115

You're Not Coal, Stop Putting So Much Pressure On Yourself To Become A Diamond

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Recently, I have been feeling exponentially overwhelmed. At nineteen, I'm graduating this spring with my bachelor's degree, I have no idea what I'm doing, how I'm going to reach my goals, or where I'm going. Am I going to get a full-time job? Am I going to join the Peace Corps? Am I going to move to Hawaii and live a life completely off the grid, eating mangos, and surfing all day? (I wish)

I have no freaking clue, and I'm sure most of you are feeling the same way.

Growing up, I put a ridiculous amount of pressure on myself. To get straight A's, excel at sports, be part of ASB, get scholarships, and go above and beyond with every task I was given. I wanted to be the perfect student/daughter/sister/friend and this mindset wrecked me. One time, during my junior year of high school, I got a C in a math class that I was struggling with and I was completely DESTROYED. I had never got a grade below an A- before and I beat myself up for weeks because I thought that I was a failure.

I so wish I wouldn't have put all of my self-worth into my grades and my success at sports. I might have actually enjoyed high school and I know without a doubt that I would have been a happier teenager.

I wish that I would have lived in the moment and embraced being a kid instead of trying so hard to be a mature adult.

I'm grateful for my work ethic, but I'm quickly watching myself spiral back into this mental space of feeling like a chicken in a pressure cooker, ready to pop because I want to change the world and I have no damn idea how to do that.

It's good to be a dreamer, but if there's one piece of advice that I could possibly give, it is that I'm figuring out that you have your entire life to accomplish your goals. Just by you being happy, kind, compassionate and living your best life, you will change the world. It's a ripple effect.

You're happy, it makes someone else happy. Their happiness makes someone else happy. Like when someone pays for your drink at Starbucks and you decide to pay it forward.

I recently saw a Rumi quote that read, "Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself." You don't deserve all of the pressure that you are putting on yourself. Embrace the unknown. You have two options, to either be anxious or to be excited. Choose excitement.

You will accomplish great things.

You're already a diamond.

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This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.

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You're Not Coal, Stop Putting So Much Pressure On Yourself To Become A Diamond

I wish that I had lived in the moment and embraced being a kid instead of trying so hard to be a mature adult.

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The struggles of having an RBF are all too real

1. People asking if you're mad at them.

2. Those people who hand out flyers don't always try to stop you.

3. Creepy guys telling you to smile.

4. "I thought you were a bitch when I first met you."

5. People telling you you'd be "so much prettier if you smiled."

6. Doing your makeup and looking great, which somehow intensifies the bitch face.

7. Regularly explaining "it's just my face."

We all go through certain stages when we have a crush, Tina just explains it better.

That moment that someone you never looked twice at suddenly makes you do a double take out of no where.

But you can't have a crush, that's outrageous. It's all in your head.

Because you don't have a crush, there's no reason to tell anyone about anything. Right?

But then they do something irresistible and you start to lose it.

Now accepting the fact you have a crush, you have to keep it under control.

Then there's the part where you tell your friends who will claim they called it.

They'll be excited and cheer you on. That's until they realize that your crush is all you'll be talking about.

Your obsession has become so bad, that your Facebook stalking is getting out of control.

But your friends will try and help move things along any way they can. That doesn't mean it will be any helpful though.

As time goes on, you start having fantasies about the two of you and it's starting to scare you a little.

You can't focus on anything because all your attention is on them and everything they do.

Anybody who comes near your crush is now an enemy, and you are willing to fight for your crush.

When you see them, you act like an idiot. Trying to hide your feelings may not be as discrete as you think.

Keeping your feelings inside will start to be harder and harder until you can't keep it inside anymore.

Who knows, maybe it will work out? Take a chance.

Everybody hurts sometimes.

May the odds be ever in your favor.

What about those of us who don't do it all in four years?

1. You feel like an elder.

2. You may feel lonely.

3. Senioritis is more real than ever.

4. You may feel a little down sometimes.

5. Fear of missing out won't be as real.

6. You are a college pro.

7. You'll have more free time.

8. You're happy you're still in school.

9. You feel like a guru.

10. You continue to grow.

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