Learning to Live

A recent conversation I had with a friend left me reflecting on how we as humans cope with stress. The conversation was focused on how we tend to worry about the future and it causes us to forget about living in the now. This chat helped open my eyes to how important it is to live life right here, right now. We should not allow our worry about the future prohibit us from a current state of happiness. My friend brought up a book by Robert M. Sapolsky titled "Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers." While the book focuses on many different aspects of stress related disorders, the part my friend was focusing on dealt with how zebras live their lives. The basic gist of it goes something like this: when zebras are at the watering hole and there are lions there too, they don't stress about it. When they are getting chased by lions they freak out and run away. But as soon as the lions stop chasing them, they forget about their fear of the lions and continue to live their lives. They ...

I’m supposed to hate running. I’ve hated it forever. But I recently decided to give it a chance and it has become one of my favorite things to do. Back in December I decided to go out on a limb and sign up to run the Fargo half marathon. I think originally signed up with the intent of losing a couple pounds and even though that didn’t happen, this race meant so much more to me than I ever thought it would. Although 13.1 miles is nowhere near 26.2, it was quite a journey to get here and I would do it again in a heartbeat. Today was the day that I actually ran and it was one of the best experiences of my entire life. It was so cool to see the Fargo community come out and support the runners. There was no point during this run that I felt like I couldn’t keep going because they were constantly there cheering for us. It was insane to have that much support from people I didn’t know, and of course the people that I do know that were there to support me. I am so blessed to ha...

Well the day has arrived. I am no longer a teen. I am finally 20. I have heard so many great things about being 20. Some people tell me that this is the best year of your life. This is obviously sarcastic. 20 is looking pretty bleak to be honest. I mean yeah, cool, I'm no longer a teenager, but what can I do now that I couldn't do then? Watch all of my friends slowly turn 21 one by one. Only one more year until it actually matters for me. Don't worry, this isn't a post about how badly I wish I was turning 21 instead of 20 (although it does seem like it....). Obviously this post needs to relate to some cliché aspect of life and it will probably resemble previous posts, but whatever. Truth be told I am excited and nervous about being 20. I'm excited to be closer to a real adult but I'm also frightened at the thought of real adulthood. I'm already sick of paying my credit card bill and I can't even cook for myself... And I'm nervous about leaving ...

Another year at Concordia has come to an end and I am filled with so many different emotions. -Halfway done = Freaked out! -Done with school = Pumped up! -Summer time = Ecstatic! -Leaving my Cobbers = Sad! -Coming home = Pretty pumped! -Time moving so fast = Anxious!  It was definitely bittersweet as I drove away from campus today. It's weird how much can change in a year. Last year at this point I peaced out 15 minutes after I finished my last final but this year was so much different. I wanted to stay as long as possible. Although I was definitely ready to be done with school, I was not emotionally ready to leave the place I have come to call my home. This year has been filled with so many wonderful memories. I have met so many awesome people and I am looking forward to making next year even better! Although they weren't all good times, the bad times have just taught me a lesson and made me appreciate the good times even more. I'm in college and I'm stupid....

Recently I have embraced a new hobby- running. And by recently I mean like in the past year, but my interest has definitely heightened in the past couple months. It's weird because I used to be the girl who would walk the mile and protest against that stupid Friday run test, but maybe all those silly gym teachers had a point. Even though it can be difficult at times, running is great for you on so many different levels. Not only is it great exercise but it also gives you some time to think, or not think. I think that's what I enjoy about it so much. It either forces me to think about a problem at hand or allows me to forget about it. I get anxious a lot and now instead of crying about things, I go for a run and it really works. You can't beat the feeling after a nice run. I am also training to run the Fargo half marathon in three weeks and I'm really nervous but I know that once I cross the finish line, nothing else will matter. All those Saturday mornings I spent ru...

Everything happens for a reason, right? I know people say this a lot, but can it really be true? Does everything actually happen for a reason? Even though we often can't see these reasons, in the big picture, everything that happens to us leads us to where we are now. Although we might not understand these reasons immediately, we can still take something away from whatever comes at us. We should embrace every experience we have as a chance to learn something. It could be about yourself or something much, much bigger than that, but either way, you should constantly be learning- even if it seems impossible. Lately I've been forced to reflect on some things I've said and done in the past. I've been leaning a lot on the awesome people around me and the belief that there is some deeper meaning to all of this. A popular Marilyn Monroe quote sums this up pretty well: " I believe that everything happens for a reason. People change so that you can learn to let go, t...

When I left for college I was excited and terrified at the same time. Excited for the future and to get away from Princeton (as much as I love it), but also terrified of the future and what it had in store for me. I wasn't sure I could handle being away from my parents and deal with the pressure of putting myself out there and making new friends. But the thing that scared me the most was leaving my old friends behind. I tried really hard at the beginning to stay in touch with everyone, but as time went on we talked less and less. Of course there are the special ones I still talk with on a regular basis, but for the most part, a lot of my high school relationships have faded away. I detested this last year. I hated the friends that were off having the time of their life, while I was stuck hating mine and trying to force a friendship. But like I said, as time went on, keeping in contact with these friends became less and less important to me. I'm thankful for the friends I stil...