NSU students are opinionated about all kinds of things, from universal social issues to NSU-specific concerns. Sometimes, however, we Sharks just need to rant about the smaller things in life to let off some steam. In this column, The Current asks: water your thoughts?
Billy Joel and I have a bone to pick: in his 1997 hit “Vienna”, he croons on “slow down, you crazy child, you’re so ambitious for a juvenile,” and through the years, I’ve held onto that phrase for comfort in stressful times. Afterall, I have a tendency to feel like I’m not doing enough even when I take on a lot, and I’m sure many others can relate. But some people hold onto the mindset that they have all the time in the world to make a difference for themselves or for other people. Those people are wasting their time.
This mindset is a chronic form of procrastination. Whether you’re putting off your passion — writing, helping others, conducting research — or deciding you’ll work on your weaknesses — selfishness, laziness, integral deficient — you’re cheating yourself out of experiences by assigning the problem to “next-year-you”. Sure, it’s easy to think “I’m only 20. I’ve got time to fix [insert detrimental trait or habit here] before I’m 25,” but with that attitude, not only are you likely to put it off even longer, you’re losing precious time that could mean the difference between being good and being excellent or absolutely great in the long-run.
Don’t let anyone, especially yourself, tell you you’re too young to make a difference in the world or to work on being better. It’s never too soon to work on things of that nature. But put it off long enough and, it might be too late.
