Like my day one therapist, Orphan Annie, always used to say: you’re never fully dressed without a smile. Cheesy as it may be, it’s really a life mantra I’ve taken to with fortitude. Even sans bald-headed infinity bank and seamless dance number I so desperately wish would spontaneously occur, there’s so much to smile about.
I strongly subscribe to the idea that looking at life through rose-colored glasses is the most valuable, and more importantly, most controllable, asset to keep in your kangaroo pouch. No situation, relationship, or endeavor lacks moments of hardship or unexpected disappointments. It’s almost a cliché in and of itself to acknowledge such truth. However, to be pleasant and to approach with kindness is to have chosen a path you’ll be proud you made. Making permanent decisions and impressions off of temporary emotions only hurts you in the end and we can all wince at a time this was true.
During a time of such divisive points of view and hostility, I think it’s significant now more than ever to remain optimistic. While there is a difference between naïvety and positivity, don’t let others mistake you for the other. Real strength and genuine determination are defined by knowing all the roadblocks ahead and still holding hands with our optimism firmly. Behind that strength lies passion for your goals and resilience in your character. There is no stronger self-inflicted disappointment than allowing another person or another situation to take you out of your character.
In times of doubt and fear or in times of less than ideal circumstances, there’s always a friend to make, a new happiness to discover, and a new opportunity to be found. Coming back to Indiana after my year in New York, I was constantly forewarned of the boredom and dread that would await me back at Purdue. I never saw it like that.
While I already miss my bodega man and the energy of unknown thrills blanketed over each and every day, I choose to see this year as something just as exciting. I’m reunited with lifetime friends I haven’t seen in what feels like a lifetime, I can get a gin and tonic that doesn’t have a mortgage, and I have the bittersweet opportunity to close a chapter of my life that’s brought me so much joy.
Admittedly, Indiana might be a skid mark, but my campus is a darling and nothing makes me happier than living happily beside my friends for one last year. Dread is optional and so is any other prolonged feeling of cynicism.
There will never be a time in our lives that perfectly aligns to what we had imagined, but isn’t that the best part? I don’t really think we know what’s good for us until it finds us. The greatest thing we can do is roll with the punches and capitalize on what brings us actual fulfillment. Be the person that chooses to look at the good and wants good for others. Ultimately, take no shit, do no harm, be uplifted by uplifting, and remember that dandelions can be flowers too.
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