One of the most important skills I've acquired in college, besides how to procrastinate with the best of them and how to remove myself from situations I find less than appealing, has been the ability to take life less seriously.
Of course, there are times when serious occasions knock at your door, such as deaths and injuries and financial crises. Most of the time, however, we just live our daily lives, planning for the future and, for lack of a less-cliche term, sweating the small stuff.
Of course, there are times when serious occasions knock at your door, such as deaths and injuries and financial crises. Most of the time, however, we just live our daily lives, planning for the future and, for lack of a less-cliche term, sweating the small stuff.
One of my favorite examples of taking my own life less seriously is last Halloween. If you refer to the above image, you can see that I dressed up at a fairy. What you can't see is that I stayed at home with my mom, dressed like this, and spent a few hours giving candy to children from the ages of 2-12.
I live in a college town where Halloween is, to say the least, a HUGE deal. The gym is heavily attended, costumes are strategically planned to ensure maximum skin-exposure, and, undoubtedly, drama ensues. This goes on for at least 3 nights. If I had to listen to a "oh my gosh. my fake tan is dripping because I tried on my slutty-santa costume and this is my last Halloween here and it has to her PERFECT" one more time, I was going to explode. So I went home. And dressed up as a fairy.
I live in a college town where Halloween is, to say the least, a HUGE deal. The gym is heavily attended, costumes are strategically planned to ensure maximum skin-exposure, and, undoubtedly, drama ensues. This goes on for at least 3 nights. If I had to listen to a "oh my gosh. my fake tan is dripping because I tried on my slutty-santa costume and this is my last Halloween here and it has to her PERFECT" one more time, I was going to explode. So I went home. And dressed up as a fairy.
Other examples include being realistic about the GPA I want to graduate with, and not trying to make friends just to say that I have friends. I like the people that I like, and I like spending a bit of time alone. Many people stress about their popularity and would coin me, perhaps, a "loner", but I don't think that's true. I have about as many good friends as I do fingers, and I choose to enjoy my time with them when I get it instead of constantly overexerting myself to be as social as possible when, quite frankly, I would rather be watching F.R.I.E.N.D.S. with a bowl of oatmeal.
That brings me to my next point - food. I try to eat as healthy as I can on a regular basis. I try to workout as much as I can to stay healthy and to allow me some extra calories. However, it is NOT worth stressing about counting calories. In fact, stress causes weight-gain (and wrinkles), so rather trust your body to tell you what and how much you need. Don't freak out about the extra cookie. You know you loved it, so what?Like everything, life requires balance. Balance the serious with the less serious, and leave yourself room for silliness, cookies, and TV, because they are all wonderful.
How do you avoid making life too serious?
xo
Toni
I find exercise helps a ton. It releases relaxing endorphins in my brain, and stress melts away. I also find drinking a huge mug of Good Earth original tea helps. Do you like to drink tea, or do you prefer coffee, by the way? I find both good, but tea is by far my favorite.
ReplyDeleteMy best friends, Jennifer and Kelby, also keep my feet on the ground, as does my family.
This is such an awesome post, girl. I couldn't agree more with everything.
ReplyDeleteBeing healthy is definitely important, but if you're sacrificing your happiness and your mental health for physical health, it's not worth it!
For me, exercise and having my "alone" time keeps me sane. I love to go out and be with friends, but I definitely need quiet time as well. It's relaxing! And I've never minded being alone. (Which, naturally, means I've also been called a "loner" many times over the years) Oh well! :)