A time of awful eating and sleeping habits, a season where jeans are always optional and sweats are welcomed by everyone. A time where students learn how to survive on caffeine and disregard social interactions outside of academic buildings. Finals.
A time of stress, but also, a time of joy?
Aside from the stress finals may bring you as you rely on seasonal Pinterest and Tumblr pages to distract you from your priorities, thus creating more anxiety later on, finals week can also bring about a time of appreciation and joy. Hidden deep down in your backpack next to the chargers and free red bull, there is a little ziploc holding a handful of joy to carry you through these weeks.
Finals suck and there is no denying this, yet it's all too easy to let it consume you in every way possible.
As I study for my last final, I repeat one simple, yet very powerful phrase.
"It's always going to be ok."
No matter what, it will always be ok.
Whether it be a relationship that recently ended or a towing ticket that sets you back $300, even a final you may have bombed or the amount you've let yourself go during finals week, no matter what, in time it will always be ok.
The scars of the break up will heal and you'll date you for a while and appreciate the love you give your deserving self.
You will work back the money you lost or receive a check in the mail from someone who deeply just wants to support you, despite their own financial situation.
You will pass the class, either barely hanging on or with flying colors, and go on living the normalcy of whatever your life was before these two weeks approached.
In the end, the stress we put on ourselves to achieve some high level of greatness will not ever compare to the joy we can allow ourselves to experience.
I may be one of the biggest stress cases I know, yet allowing myself to remain joyful in this stressful yet very prominent holiday season is something we all deserve.
Be joyful, knowing that you are worth so much more than grades on a test.
Be joyful, knowing that you are made for so much more than we allow ourselves to live at times.
Be joyful, knowing that it will always be ok.
We have gone through some awful times in our lives, and for that I am both sorry and grateful. I'm sorry for the pain we have had to endure and the uneasiness we had to sit in. Yet I am grateful for the support found during those times and the season after the storm, the healing process and the growth. It might just be me, but finding joy in my own sorrow can be one of the best forms of healing I practice.
So as finals wind down and the holiday season kicks into full swing, remember that this is simply another week on your calendar, a moment in time that will pass and leave way for another joyous time to appear.
Remember that amidst the stress you can allow yourself a moment of joy.
Smile.
Laugh.
Be grateful that you have something to be stressed about.
Remember that no matter what you feel now, it will always be ok.
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