The Optimist
  • Home
  • About
    • Advertise
    • Policies
    • Staff Contacts
    • Jobs
  • News
  • Sports
  • Opinion
    • Columns
    • Editorials
  • Multimedia
    • Photo Galleries
    • Videos
  • Features
  • Print Edition
    • The Pessimist
    • Special Projects
  • Police Log
  • Classifieds
You are here: Home / Opinion / Be happy with what you have

Be happy with what you have

March 4, 2019 by Hannah Johnson

When we are college students, we worship the glories of others.

Maybe you’re the freshman art student who sits next to the girl whose drawing abilities surpass yours as exhibited through her magnificent doodles in her notepad.

Maybe you’re the yoga beginner secretly wishing to bend your body in the ways the experts sitting at the front can.

Maybe you’re the single senior who watches all his friends give a ring by spring.

Maybe you’re the student who cannot afford Study Abroad; the one who watches other students come back and tell amazing stories of their newfound knowledge and enhanced spirituality.

Maybe you’re the struggling author who watches people younger than you publish their first novels.

Maybe it hurts you knowing you cannot experience what your peers have.

It’s okay to feel hurt.

But it’s not okay to feel hopeless.

Our minds tell us that we all need to live amazing lives and achieve great things at a young age. We tell ourselves we have to be as good at as this person or go to as many places as that person.

This is detrimental to ourselves, especially when circumstances beyond our control keep us from achieving the same things as our friends.

This keeps us away from the present and from achieving our own happiness.

The truth is that we can be happy with what we have and not focus on what others have. It’s a difficult concept, but it’s true.

Happiness for ourselves is not a destination. It has been in our control all along.

Here are a few ways to take that control:

Start with taking one moment of quiet to yourself each day. Think of the successes so far in your life.

Find peace in knowing that you don’t have what you want now, but also know that life gets better if we choose for it to be.

Do what you love for just 20 minutes a day. Draw, write, do yoga.

Exercise. It helps with anxiety.

The more we focus on ourselves, the less we are intimidated by what our friends are doing.

Filed Under: Columns, Opinion

Other Opinion:

  • Tariffs are the last thing struggling students need

  • Gen Z won the election for Donald Trump

  • A Swift rebuke: When it comes to politics, celebrities just do not get it

About Hannah Johnson

Staff Writer

You are here: Home / Opinion / Be happy with what you have

Other Opinion:

  • Tariffs are the last thing struggling students need

  • Gen Z won the election for Donald Trump

  • A Swift rebuke: When it comes to politics, celebrities just do not get it

Follow us online

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Optimist on Twitter

acuoptimist The Optimist @acuoptimist ·
2 Dec

BREAKING: The internet is now up and running after a short campus-wide outage.

Reply on Twitter 1863647460322640102 Retweet on Twitter 1863647460322640102 Like on Twitter 1863647460322640102 1 Twitter 1863647460322640102
acuoptimist The Optimist @acuoptimist ·
7 Nov

The Optimist and ACUTV partnered together to produce a 3-hour live election show on Tuesday night. A team of 25 students worked for weeks preparing while doing research and interviews with guests like Dr. Phil Schubert and Rep. Stan Lambert.

Reply on Twitter 1854352279605817812 Retweet on Twitter 1854352279605817812 2 Like on Twitter 1854352279605817812 9 Twitter 1854352279605817812

Optimist on Facebook

The Optimist

10 months ago

The Optimist

Video

View on Facebook
· Share

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email

The Optimist

1 years ago

The Optimist
"Ending my college education early was always the plan for me, but the things that I have been able to see, experience and examine about ACU’s community were not. I have found immense growth in ACU over the past three and a half years, but ACU still has a long road to climb if it wants to keep catering to students as the world changes around them." To read more of this article visit acuoptimist.com or click the link in our bio. #acu #abilenechristianuniversity #privatechristianuniversity #collegestudentopinion #acuopinion ... See MoreSee Less

Photo

View on Facebook
· Share

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Linked In Share by Email

Videos

Optimist Newscast Feb. 28, 2024

Our top stories today include a recap of The Musical Comedy Murders of 1940, the ... [Read More…]

  • Optimist Newscast Feb. 21, 2024
  • Optimist Newscast Feb. 14, 2024
  • Optimist Newscast Jan. 24, 2024

Latest Photos

  • Home
  • About
    • Contact
    • Subscribe
    • Policies
    • Advertising Policy
    • Letters to the Editor and Reader Comments
  • News
  • Sports
  • Opinion
    • Columns
    • Editorials
  • Multimedia
    • Videos
    • Photo Galleries
  • Features
  • Advertise
    • Paid Advertisement
  • Police Log

© 2025 ACU Optimist · All Rights Reserved