Why Do We Wish It Away?

I haven't had any inspiration lately for something to write about, but this morning I came to a very important realization as to why this was.

When things get busy, we tend to start eliminating what we deem "unnecessary" from our routines. For me, much to my dismay, this includes blogging. When I have a million things going on, my creative brain seems to shut off and all I can think about is "what is my next task, what's the next thing on my to do list".

However, this morning I was finally able to sit down and get an idea for a post, so I'm especially excited to be talking about this topic. Today I'm asking the question, "Why do we wish it away?"

By this I mean, when things are busy, and we are stressed in our current state, why do we say to ourselves, "I just want this to be over," or "next ______ can't come soon enough". We are all guilty of doing this: wishing it all away. It seems to happen most when we have a specific complaint, whether it's about a school project, or a busy season for a student organization we're a part of. I think when we are stuck in a situation where the only thing weighing on our minds is a perceived negative, we associate the entire day/week/time with those negative feelings. We wish away the time thinking, "once this is over, then I will be happier".

Unfortunately, sometimes I think we can get into the habit of seeing this as a perpetual state we're stuck in. The truth is, we will always have something busy or stressful happening; it's part of life. It's almost natural for our minds to say "what should I be stressed/upset about this week?" and we fall into the habit of saying "once *this* is over, I'll be happy" when really, we're always going to have something in our lives that's causing this energy.

What I'm trying to do, instead of thinking this way, is say "what are the good things happening right now that won't always be here for me to enjoy?" Think about the very essence of college: yes, we have exams and lots of studying, but we also have amazing people that we're only connected to because of school. There's elements about our current situations that won't always be around, whether it's places or people or experiences, and I think instead of focusing on the stress, we can all take a second and remember what we have to be thankful for in the moment.

While we can always say we "can't wait for ______ to be over", by the time we know it, lots of things end. And when the happy things are over, it's hard to look past all the negative and remember the positives if we don't take the time to embrace them in the moment. So when things are stressful, just remember, don't wish it all away.

xo Kate