I still remember it as if it was yesterday, although it was actually many years ago.
It was my last semester in university. To be more precise, the last day. I had three final exams on the same day. Three grades would decide whether I would be awarded my degree or have to go through yet another semester.
As you can imagine, I was under a lot of pressure. The exams were naturally difficult and the added pressure of succeeding or "wasting" another semester of my life didn't make things any easier. I spent a good part of the evening before studying and most of the day trying to apply what I learned and hoping I could keep my sanity until the last test.
After I wrote the very last word (or number, I can't really remember) of the final exam I felt tremendous relief. I had no idea then whether I had passed all 3 exams (spoiler, I did) but I could honestly tell myself that I'd done everything under my power to maximize my chances of success and that was really all I could do.
I remember very little of my way back home that day but I do remember I got home a little after 4pm and I immediately crashed on my bed and feel asleep until the next day. It was one of the best nights sleep I had in my entire life.
The fact that I was mentally and physically exhausted certainly contributed for that feeling but I believe the main reason for that was the fact that I accomplished what I set myself up to that day. I realley "earned" my sleep.
I've been chasing that same feeling ever since. I haven't been able to reproduce it 100%, and I'm not sure I ever will because of the very unique circumstances that revolved around that day (maybe a story for another time), but I've gotten pretty close.
Days are long but years are short
This is something that kind of blew my mind when I heard it for the first time because I can 100% relate.
I'm a very busy person, and I have a lot of to-do's every single day. That sometimes makes me feel my days are terribly long and yet, at the same time, sometimes I "blink" and an entire week passed by.
It really bothers me because I feel like life is slipping away and I haven't done a lot of the things I promised myself I would and that's why my mindset now is to try and make every day count.
That doesn't necessarily mean passing 3 life-defining exams every single day or getting to the edge of physical exhaustion like I did that fatidical day but it does mean making sure that I accomplished something.
It could be something big or something small but, whatever it is, it better be something that puts me closer to my goals.
If I can live like that, one day after another, I'm sure I won't feel like the years are so short any more.
So this is my suggestion for you: earn your sleep and make every day count.
Posted Using INLEO
I like the saying "Days are long but years are short". I also like - though this probably doesn't apply to you - Seneca's "It is not that we have a short space of time, but that we waste much of it."
Oh that's a great one too!
I recently got into stoicism and I'm reading some of Seneca's stuff but I didn't know that one
I believe it comes from On the Shortness of Life - a series of letters written to Paulinus who was Rome's grain superintendent.
Thanks, I'll look it up!
Congratulations @tokenizedsociety! You have completed the following achievement on the Hive blockchain And have been rewarded with New badge(s)
Your next target is to reach 33000 upvotes.
You can view your badges on your board and compare yourself to others in the Ranking
If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word
STOP