35 days

Ah the sweet smell of the semester winding down- or picking up? As it gets to the end I can never quite tell whether it slows down or speeds up. As of today there are 35 days remaining of my junior year of college and I have to say that some days I am ready and others I close my eyes and just hold on tight.

Being in a place for too long makes me antsy. During the school year I work at my school's rock wall and sitting in the small place 18 hours a week can drive me insane on slow nights. Working in the rock wall is kind of like life for me. When things are the same day after day, I'm ready to move. I have to stand up and walk away for a little bit. The end of the semester is very much like this. I'm getting tired of sitting behind a desk and studying for something new every night. I'm ready for late nights at camp with my man in the car next to me. I need late night drives and swimming pools and no anxiety from impending tests.

There's 35 days remaining of this semester and even though I am very much burnt out; I want to make it worth something. I don't want to count down the days until the weekend or the summer. I want to study hard while I can and pass the exams coming up with ease.

So here's to 35 days and not counting I suppose.

The Kind Word Challenge

Over winter break I went through a bit of a withdrawal from just about everything. I needed a break from school and people and kindly enough my family let me. For the entire month and a half I was able to relax and prepare for the last stretch before summer break; it was heaven. Right before I was meant to fly back to school, my dad pulled me aside and I was able to have a heart to heart with him. One of the things he reminded me was that kind words can fix just about everything. One of my worst bad habits is how awesome I am at comebacks. This however means that I can hurt people pretty deeply with very few words. Over the years I have been able to tame it immensely but every now and then it slips out. Because of the stress of last semester, this habit had been creeping up on me and I was becoming overwhelmed.

My dad is pretty great about bringing me back to earth. He gives me the space I need and then lets me talk it out. Usually, he can get me to see something from a different angle than I had previously. It is pretty easy to notice when other people are treating you badly. It's harder to see how you are treating other's badly. Every now and then I just have to remind myself to take a step back and look at the situation differently. Just because I feel like I'm not being treated fairly does not mean that I have the right to attack. Kind words have done wonders for me in diffusing situations.

One thing I want to challenge you to do is to take a step back. Are there any places in your life that you can lend a kind word? When I walk into my cafeteria, I always try to hold a conversation with the student working the front desk. One of the girls stopped me one time after I asked her how she was and told me that she appreciated the way I always conversed with her. To me, it was of little importance but it made an impact on her. I never realize how much of an impact I can have with just a few words. Angry words are not the only words that stick with people. So my challenge for you is to lend a kind word. Tell the stranger on the street that you dig their sweet sweater. A classmate got a new haircut? Maybe they're self conscious and need someone to tell them how much they rock their new hair. Kind words may seem insignificant to you, but little words here and there could make a huge impact on the world.