Reflectorial: On stress
Do your anxieties have anxieties?
Charlie Brown said that his did. Even though most might say that his approach to life was pretty depressing and perhaps overly dramatic. Even Linus would say to him that “of all the Charlie Browns in the world, you’re the Charlie Browniest!”
But no matter what was up with Charlie Brown, his lack of hair, for being a kid, really said it all. Whether the little red-haired girl ignored him or the baseball team he coached lost of the umpteenth time or even if Lucy got the best of him with that football trick, again — Charlie Brown approached all his problems in the same way: like it was the end of the world.
The irony is that he is so young. All of these issues seem so minor, especially when we are on the verge of trying to figure out our lives. We are caught in the crossfire of midterms and essays while trying to figure out our final projects, our financial situation, our disastrous schedule, classes, part-time jobs and so much more. Be a kid, Charlie Brown, while you still can.
Charlie Brown claimed that he developed a new life-saving philosophy, “I dread one day at a time” and that the secret to life was to “replace one worry with another”. Depressing still, but maybe we should take a page out of Charlie Brown’s book.
Your anxieties have anxieties. Everything is happening at once. Although it seems impossible, take things one task at a time and take days one day at a time. With everything going on at once, things can be too overwhelming. When you try and take everything in all at once, suddenly even the little things start to stress you out.
We know what Charlie Brown meant, in his own little Charlie Brown way, but don’t dread your days. Tackle them. Own them. Show your anxieties that you control them and not the other way around. Once you crush that midterm, move on to destroying that essay. Replace one problem with the next and soon you’ll be done everything. You can and you will. It’s really is that simple.
Just tackle things one day at a time.
— The Reflector Staff
