Today is another beautiful day in Berrien Springs, Michigan (the high is not in the 40s… we’re in April)! The birds are chirping and the cute fat squirrels are hoarding their nuts. Despite the overcast skies, it seems like it’s going to be a pretty good day!
You wake up on time feeling refreshed after getting a full eight hours of sleep. You won’t feel the need at all for a Celsius. You’ll step into the Gazebo for a breakfast burrito, where there’s no line at all. Your smoothie will be perfectly blended with just the right amount of protein powder, and you’ll take a seat in the campus center to enjoy your food before heading off to your first class.
On your way to class, it won’t be drizzling or snowing (again, it’s April), and you’ll arrive at class a minute before it starts to get settled into your seat.
Your professor will be engaging, and you’ll actually pay attention (and not doing other homework) because you’ll feel like contributing something to the class.
After class, you’ll grab lunch from the cafeteria (it’s Sam’s chicken!) in the blink of an eye (no line, once again!). You’ll then retreat to your (clean) room (with no mold) to relax and finish up some homework.
What a perfect and convenient day! And yet, at the end of it all, you feel oddly empty. What is this feeling?
While it’s nice to idealize our lives and wish for a better, faster, more efficient, more convenient, more productive, more— doing so makes it easy to forget the paradoxical beauty in the mistakes we make and the nuisances we face at times. Sure, it might be nice if there was never a line at the Gazebo, but waiting a couple minutes for my fries usually allots me some time to talk to friends I bump into in the meantime. Last Saturday evening, I had to wait in the cold for two hours with my friends for a concert, and although I was desperately wishing that the venue would just open doors early, I was glad to have made friends with the two girls in front of us who graciously gave us extra gloves and saved our spots when we had to go to the bathroom.
As someone who’s always meticulously planned out their schedule down to the minute for my day-to-day life, I’ve come to appreciate the opportunities and experiences I’ve been afforded because of deviations from my normal routine. The modern world almost makes it seem like convenience is something we’re entitled to. This month, as we wrap up the school year and face hectic schedules, I hope we can all still take a breather sometimes and embrace the little setbacks that make us stop for a minute to appreciate those around us.
The Student Movement is the official student newspaper of Andrews University. Opinions expressed in the Student Movement are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors, Andrews University or the Seventh-day Adventist church.