Making Each Day Count

WHILE WRITING THIS, I feel like I’m trapped in the core of a whirlwind, with a mob of tasks and duties hurling past around me at a high-speed level in a dizzying upward spiral. Pressure, stress, anxiety, mathematical figures—all of them—creep inside my mind that make me want to scream and burst out in tears. But I shall not falter, I tell myself.

This is my last chance to make it all happen.

It increasingly sinks in to me. Finally, I’m down to my last semester in college and am having a sense that everything is equipped with a time bomb. There is this thinking that, as a graduating student, you sincerely want to accomplish a lot of things—in my case, both for my academics and for the student organizations I belong to—but with so little time already. Mind you, time flies so fast that before we know it, it’s already graduation day. And of course like anyone else, I do not want to graduate with regrets. I do not want to march out of this venerable institution with stones left unturned.

            “Do not count the days. Instead, make each day count.” This has been my mantra since the onset of my senior year here in San Beda Alabang. It actually adds pressure upon me because I know that it requires some serious amount of focus, discipline and sacrifice (e.g., time for Facebook and Twitter). Of course, this is easier said than done.

For several days, I had been figuring out how I could make my last few college days more worthwhile. I admit I was “lost” during that time, often talking to myself, until I attended the college Mass last Nov. 16^th and heard Fr. Paul de Vera, OSB utter these three precious words: “Value your time.” When I heard that, I couldn’t help but cringe, and silently burst into tears. I cried at that moment because it dawned on me like a shaft of light from heaven, which suddenly enlightened my mind and made everything clear. But at the same time, I felt guilty. I felt so because I know deep inside that I’m not that good at what Fr. Paul said in his homily.

I easily lose my focus. I overthink without even starting a course of action. I often rant and procrastinate. I spend a lot of time on my online life. Sometimes, I let myself be overwhelmed by studies, work, and even family problems, and forget my priorities. With this kind of attitude, am I valuing my time? Am I making my college days count? Well of course, no.

           

            After reading some articles to make life more meaningful and happier, I found one useful recipe: cultivate an attitude of gratitude. One can start it with thanking God for the gift of life and for another day when one wakes up in the morning. Thanksgiving is a good thing and according to psychological studies, frequent thankfulness makes one a happier well-being. Aside from that, an attitude of gratitude radiates kindness, positivism, creativity, and humility.

            Since the time I’ve set out myself to cultivate this“attitude of gratitude,” my days have become quite happier and more bearable. I realized that I am so blessed that I am already graduating, near to fulfilling my and my parents’ dream; that I am surrounded with kind and loving friends in the College; that I have challenges I now consider as opportunities; and that I am more aware of what I have rather than what I do not have.

            Being thankful has also boosted my positivism. It has made me look at the glass half-full rather than half-empty. It helps me to see the brighter side of things when times make me depressed and hit rock bottom. Also, it ingrains in me that everything happens for a reason, and that there’s always something to be learned from a negative experience. This positivism actually helps me to achieve more goals and to have happier relationships with others.

           

Gratitude is such a great gesture of love, and therefore is really worth cultivating. It is the springboard to appreciate people and things, especially while they are still there. I hope I will be able to keep up nurturing it not just until I graduate, but for already the rest of my life.

A Universal Truth goes, “the Mind can only serve one Master, either gratitude or despair—but not both.”

This is how I will make my remaining college days happier, more meaningful and more worthwhile—by choosing and living an attitude of gratitude, one heartfelt “Thank You” at a time.

Receive my sincere thanks for reading this article.

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This article was published in The Bedan Herald November 2012 issue under the author's column, "Big Boom Theory".