Almost Forgot This Was The Whole Point
Writer: Izzy Patrizio
Editor: Sarah Lindquist
Photo from Staff
I grew up wishing on eyelashes. Whenever one of your eyelashes falls out and you catch it, you should make a wish and blow it away for the hope that it might come true. For years and years my wishes were silly things like hoping I get the pink pig Pillow Pet for my birthday, or wishing for a sleepover with my cousin. I even remember wishing for the summer to last forever, because I was just having so much fun. While not every wish can come true, when they do, I rarely connect it back to that eyelash. I never take a moment to realize that this was what I had once wished for. For a while, I used every single eyelash to wish I would get into Northeastern and get to be a Husky. Can you guess what I am doing now?
There is a trend going around where people post videos of stuff they are doing with the caption “almost forgot this was the whole point.” This sentiment is one I think a lot of us forget. I find myself constantly thinking about my next move. I am always trying to think of how I can do better, or how I messed up in the past. I am aware of the fact that time moves fast, but that idea doesn't always help me avoid stressing about the future. There is always something new to figure out when you are in college, whether it's your plans after school, summer jobs or internships, or classes you have to take and what order you should take them in. It can be so hard to take a step back and see all you’ve accomplished when your life is constantly moving on from itself. No one gives themselves enough credit for all they have done. It is hard not to compare yourself to others and see the things they have done that you haven’t. Society today is so focused on how we can all better ourselves and strive to improve. This is not always a bad thing, a little self reflection is good, but at the end of the day, you are not a continuous fixer upper that needs to change everything about yourself. You deserve a lot more credit than you are giving yourself.
At some point we have to realize that the life we are living is something a younger version of ourselves would be so incredibly proud of. I rarely take a second to think about how hard I worked to get into Northeastern, and how hard I wished for the life that I now get to live. I wished so hard that I would be able to meet amazing people and get to spend every day with my best friends. I wished so hard that I would live in one of the best cities in the world and have the chance to make it my own. I wished so hard to be part of a community that I could start new clubs or organizations. Instead of focusing on the fact that this was the whole point all along, I continue to look at my setbacks and what I still have to accomplish.
The thing is, I think it's a great idea to want to improve yourself, but if you take that too far, I don’t know if you'll be able to feel as happy as you could be if you started appreciating all you’ve done.
