Back to Reality

Hello world (or at least a few people in Escambia County)!
For me, and most out there, this was the week when the period of holiday bliss ended and the real world returned with a punch in the face. Specifically, school started back for me Tuesday, but even this shortened four-day school week felt never-ending and exhausting.
I always have this naive thought at the beginning of the semester that they will ease you in with a day or two of getting back into the groove of things and no real work.
And I am always wrong.
Make up exams. Pop quizzes. Homework. Lectures. The list goes on, and it's only been four days.
Already waking up at 5:30 (well, more like 5:50 because I like the snooze button) is taking its toll on me. No amount of tea can ward of the yawning and zoning out that comes with early mornings, long days, and a lot of work.
I'm not here to complain though. I'm here simply to reflect. I don't think I really mind going back to school honestly (endless Saturdays are quite nice though), because one can't live in euphoria forever. That's not to say that reality is complete misery, but reality experiences ups and downs versus the constant "ups" during carefree days.
What am I getting to here? Well, I guess I'm here to share my life motto: opinion determines outcome. If I had woken up Tuesday morning and said, "I don't want to go to school. This will be a terrible day", then I would've been convinced, no matter what came my way amidst the day, that the day was terrible. Instead, I tried to make the best of the day by wearing my new jacket from Christmas, packing a good lunch, and catching up with my friends.
However, I'm not going to lie, those times during the day when the tiredness seriously struck me, it was as if everything was terrible. Everything was boring. I wasn't talking to anyone. My head hurt. I didn't want to put my best foot forward. I would've rather been home watching Gilmore Girls (my latest obsession). I wanted to do everything but what I had to do.
It was those time I chose to view everything negatively because of "poor pitiful me". You know what? The last few days were awful. I let them be awful.
It's amazing how your attitude changes everything, it really is. I find that the solution to your negative attitude is to try to find the positive effects of whatever you're doing. The best example here is schoolwork. So, if I have to do another AP World History chapter study guide (which I often dread - as in, always dread), I try to think, "By doing this now, I'll get ahead in my schoolwork, and I'll be getting even closer to passing the AP World History exam". That is much more motivational than, "This is going to take three hours out of my Sunday".
Next time you find yourself having a bad day, examine how you're viewing things, and try to flip it around. Flipping your mood can, in fact, flip your day.
The idea of "opinion determines outcome" can be applied to practically everything in life. Working out. Introducing yourself to someone new. Taking a test. You name it. It's the best life motto to live by!

This blog post totally turned into "inspirational time with Rowan", which I wasn't planning. I like writing without plan though; I often do my best writing when I'm just "feeling it".Writing is something that comes from within. Good, ernest writing does not just go directly from your brain to your fingertips, it has to make a pit stop to your heart along the way.
I could write forever about writing, but like many tangents I go off on, this topic will be saved for another day.

To close this blog post, I wanted to share the song I've been listening to constantly in the past two weeks that's always leveled my mood. "Oceans" by Swedish songwriter Andreas Moe is absolutely beautiful and serene to listen to. To be honest, I haven't listened closely to the lyrics yet, but I suppose it's something I should examine. Anywho, I'm sharing a YouTube link for you to listen to. Even if you're not one to go deep into the lyrics, simply enjoy the song for the musical bliss it brings to your ears.
FYI, the stripped acoustic version is WAY better than the original, but I could only find the music video of the song to listen to.

Click here to watch the music video to "Ocean" by Andreas Moe!

Have an awesome week!

-Rowan