{"id":13006,"date":"2019-04-04T16:06:45","date_gmt":"2019-04-04T22:06:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/?p=13006"},"modified":"2019-05-02T18:42:58","modified_gmt":"2019-05-03T00:42:58","slug":"shifting-focus-chill-out-about-tomorrow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/2019\/04\/04\/shifting-focus-chill-out-about-tomorrow\/","title":{"rendered":"Shifting Focus | Chill out about tomorrow"},"content":{"rendered":"
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With Spring Sing only a few weeks away, my family is starting to make plans for their third-annual trip to come watch the Thursday night performance. Even though they\u2019re never able to stay longer than 24 hours during the hectic weekend, I always look forward to spending a few hours with them at the beginning of Easter weekend.<\/p>\n

This year, my sister\u2019s best friend may be tagging along so she can check out Harding a bit. Apparently, Avery\u2019s friend is feeling pretty stressed about the future; she can\u2019t figure out what school she wants to attend or major she wants to pursue. We\u2019ve all been there and felt that. It\u2019s sounds pretty normal, right?<\/p>\n

The only thing concerning to me is the fact that both my sister and her friend are freshmen in high school.<\/p>\n

Apparently, being freaked out over college at age 15 is not abnormal anymore. I know someone from home who sent out multiple college applications by December of his sophomore year. Those who lead campus tours here at Harding will even tell you it\u2019s not unheard of for high school freshmen to be in the group.<\/p>\n

While I don\u2019t think there\u2019s anything wrong with looking toward the future, I do think there is danger in obsessing over plans years in advance.<\/p>\n

As of now, I\u2019m still not entirely sure what I\u2019m doing this summer; I\u2019m unsure as to what state I\u2019ll even be living in. Is this terrifying, overwhelming and stressful? Yes. 100 percent, yes. And should I be searching for an answer to where I\u2019ll be living and what I\u2019ll be doing one month from now? Again, the answer is a resounding yes.<\/p>\n

However, fear of the future should not overtake all my waking thoughts. If I go through these next weeks only dwelling on my plans for the summer, think of what I\u2019d be missing out on. I wouldn\u2019t be fully engaged in the weekly Stu dinners with my friends. I wouldn\u2019t be emotionally available for a friend in need. I wouldn\u2019t be dedicated to the work I\u2019ve committed to do.<\/p>\n

I would be absent.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s follow this hypothetical scenario and fast-forward to the summer. If I continue to let thoughts of the future rule my life, I\u2019ll be missing out on experiences then, too. If I am at an internship only stressing over the upcoming senior year and plans for graduation, I might as well have not accepted the position.<\/p>\n

Like I said, planning for the future can be good and responsible. Stressing over it, however, can be detrimental.<\/p>\n

We love to obsess over the past; we are prone to plan meticulously for the future. Why can\u2019t we focus \u2014 even for a moment \u2014 on the present?<\/p>\n

Why does it feel like every time has significance, except for the current moment? We\u2019re not promised a carefree life. Each day we live will bring fears, worries and doubts. However, we\u2019re not doing ourselves any favors by adding to each day\u2019s worries the stresses of years to follow. I don\u2019t know about you, but I don\u2019t think I can handle any additional stress.<\/p>\n

As we reach the end of the academic year and begin looking to things ahead, there\u2019s nothing wrong with planning for the summer, the next year or even post-grad life. As you plan, however, try not to be obsessive; each day has enough troubles of its own. Let\u2019s not add to them.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With Spring Sing only a few weeks away, my family is starting to make plans for their third-annual trip to come watch the Thursday night performance. Even though they\u2019re never…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15102,"featured_media":11117,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[78],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13006","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-columns"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13006","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15102"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13006"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13006\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13008,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13006\/revisions\/13008"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11117"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13006"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13006"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thelink.harding.edu\/the-bison\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13006"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}