I think my parents raised me with weird ideas about stress. Nothing was ever what it was in my house. Every panic about a scraped knee was in fact my little wise soul grappling with the facts of vulnerability and abandonment.
My dad has been known to come into my room when I'm having a bad day to tell me how terrifyingly large eternity is.
Mom, on the other hand, tends to ask me what's really bothering me.
This has led to a particular awareness of what the real panic-inducing things really are. While I appreciate the perspective that my parents handed down, it's not the most practical thing.
Right now, I'm stressing out about a final that I have in three days, but my first instinct upon acknowledging that stress is to say to myself, "Well, what's the real issue? Clearly it's not the exam."
Then, perhaps, the real issue is the end of freshman year, which for all of its excitement has been one of the best years of my life. But no, that's not wide enough. Maybe the real issue is the fact that now that I'm almost 25% done with my undergraduate education, I am forced to accept the fact that I will have to figure out what I want to do in the real world someday somewhat soon.
And have you ever thought about how terrifyingly large eternity is?
And do you even remember that I have a final in three days? Because I'm here, freaking out about eternity, and definitely not studying.
So, um, thanks mom and dad.
Love always,
Clara
My dad has been known to come into my room when I'm having a bad day to tell me how terrifyingly large eternity is.
Mom, on the other hand, tends to ask me what's really bothering me.
This has led to a particular awareness of what the real panic-inducing things really are. While I appreciate the perspective that my parents handed down, it's not the most practical thing.
Right now, I'm stressing out about a final that I have in three days, but my first instinct upon acknowledging that stress is to say to myself, "Well, what's the real issue? Clearly it's not the exam."
Then, perhaps, the real issue is the end of freshman year, which for all of its excitement has been one of the best years of my life. But no, that's not wide enough. Maybe the real issue is the fact that now that I'm almost 25% done with my undergraduate education, I am forced to accept the fact that I will have to figure out what I want to do in the real world someday somewhat soon.
And have you ever thought about how terrifyingly large eternity is?
And do you even remember that I have a final in three days? Because I'm here, freaking out about eternity, and definitely not studying.
So, um, thanks mom and dad.
Love always,
Clara
1 comment:
I had this situation basically one year ago. I think the only thing that really helped was enjoying the time and deciding by heart about the coming stuff. Oh, and learning here and there.
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