Happiness Should Be Non-Negotiable

Samantha Garcia/Staff Writer

Our visions, dreams and goals often get lost in translation if, throughout the journey, we don’t indulge in happiness. 

Truth is, if you’re not happy with what you’re doing, chances you probably aren’t doing what is right for you.

I often struggle between choosing what is “right” for my envisioned future and what makes me happy. But a wise person once encouraged me to pursue my happiness, to do what makes me happy. 

As students of higher education facing back-to-back exams, we’re under constant stress and we let our perfectionism consume us. When I’m mentally drained, my body feels physically drained. When I’m both mentally and physically drained, I indulge in cafecito and croquetas. When the short-term happiness that food gives me wears away, I have huge midlife crisis. We should never let it get to this point.

The finest gourmet recipe for disaster, found in the 8th Street Campus Kitchen around finals season, is lack of sleep, poor nutrition and high levels of stress. If we don’t take care of ourselves, nobody will take care of us. Drink water. Eat vegetables. Sleep eight hours. And always remember that when our hearts are happy, our minds function with clarity.

If ordering pizza at 3 a.m. after you crammed a semester’s worth of material in eight hours will make you happy, order it. I dance around my kitchen with a slice of pizza in each hand, too—there’s no shame here. If having a private concert in the shower for half an hour will destress you, forget about your water bill and sing until your heart’s content. If doing your nails will make you happy, treat yourself.

Money comes and goes. Body appearances fluctuate. Happiness should be non-negotiable. It should be static, reliable and unchanging. 

My problem lies in drawing the line between my endlessly increasing expectations and my mental sanity. However, as stressful times engulf us, it’s vital that we take a moment and look at the bigger picture. 

Take five seconds to inhale a long deep breath of fresh air. Take 30 seconds to recollect your thoughts as you word vomit onto your term paper. Look up and admire the trees and the clouds as you walk back to your car. Look around you and admire the turtles as you hastily speed walk down the kissing bridge on your way to class. Feel the wind brush against your face as you walk past Breezeway into the Green Library. It only takes a few seconds. Live in the “now.”

One of the mottos that changed my life was the rule of five. If it won’t matter in five years, don’t stress about it for more than five minutes. Easier said than done, right?

We all know that, when the tears are running down onto your laptop, and you hide your face and muffle your sobs (so the other caffeinated students spending sleepless nights in the library don’t hear), it’s hard to step back and realise that one test won’t determine how successful you will be. 

The truth is we’re all crying—whether it’s internally or externally. At the end of the day, we’re all on the same boat. Some may be better navigators than others; some may be going through stormier waters, but we are all in this together. And we should all, despite our ambitions, prioritize our mental health and make time for our happiness.

Twenty years from now, it will not matter if you got an 85 on your final and ended up with a B in the class. What will matter is that you’ll be full of gray hairs and wrinkles and have no adventurous memories to tell your kids because you spent all your college years caged into a library cubicle and chained to your textbooks.

Live in the present. Chase your happiness. Align your career goals with your emotional desires. Make room for your joy. It is the spark that will light your fire.

Featured photo from FIU Flickr.

 

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