Welcome to our special section, Thrive on Campus, devoted to covering the urgent issue of mental health among college and university students from all angles. If you are a college student, we invite you to apply to be an Editor-at-Large, or to simply contribute (please tag your pieces ThriveOnCampus). We welcome faculty, clinicians, and graduates to contribute as well. Read more here.
Dear self,
“Change doesn’t have to be obvious.”
You won’t just wake up one day and be the exact definition of immaculation in the world’s eyes. But you also can’t stop living your life, waiting for that perfection to catch up on you.
Even though the world doesn’t see it, but you do. Right? And I really hope you aren’t doing this just to show the world. ‘Cause if you are, then it’s really the time to question yourself.
And I hope when you sit all alone by yourself and think about your life, the world doesn’t dictate any single thought you have. I hope it all comes from within you, all the sudden realizations you have in that exact moment. When you start to understand how stupid all those minuscule things were, about which you spent a whole day thinking about. When you could have just gone out there, laid in the summer grass, looking up at the clouds flowing subtly against the blue sky. And finally realizing, you are much more than what’s visible to the eye.
You are changing, bettering yourself with every day passing by. The people you meet, the songs you sing, those vacations you went on, that shopping spree, even the days you spend just lying down in your bed, staring at the ceiling. They all make you, the person you are today. ‘Cause change doesn’t always have to be obvious. It can be subtle too.
So, I want you to feel proud of yourself. Every day. And fall in love with those baby steps you are continuously taking towards a better ‘you’.
P.S.: I love you. Please take care of yourself. ?
Yours,
Mind, soul and body.
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More on Mental Health on Campus:
What Campus Mental Health Centers Are Doing to Keep Up With Student Need
If You’re a Student Who’s Struggling With Mental Health, These 7 Tips Will Help
The Hidden Stress of RAs in the Student Mental Health Crisis