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Nothing Better than a Nap
By Sam York
It's 1 p.m. in the afternoon; I'm ready for a nap. In our modern, bustling society it is an odd concept to lie down at the sunniest point in the day and turn our minds off for a quick hour of shut-eye. One hour of lost productivity, are you serious? It seems to me that people are too consumed in the future or the direction of their lives that they choose to neglect their health and mental necessities for things that they think will help them later on. But I ask, what about right now? In my opinion the present is the only thing that truly matters, because it is the only thing that we, as humans, can control.
I say this, not as a way of deterring people from doing their homework or going to work, but rather to bring attention to the idea that there is more to enjoy from each day. This idea really didn't hit me until a few months ago after I was deferred - which I knew was basically rejection - from the college I was set on attending from the age of 13.
I always pictured myself being able to finally enjoy the things around me once I could sit down in the lush green quads of Dartmouth College. In my mind, that was what was important, getting to Dartmouth; so much so, that I based what I did entirely around that thought. I would wake up thinking that all I had to do was work really hard in my classes and survive the day and I would be one day closer to college. But that mindset really got me nowhere. Sure I did well in my classes, but at practically at the expense of my health. I would stay up late into the night, making sure my map was colored perfectly so that I could the fabled thirty-out-of-thirty. But I really didn't need to do it, I didn't even want to. I felt I had to; as if Dartmouth wouldn't accept me if I lost one point on my map, although I had completely learned the material.
In retrospect, I'm happy where my work has put me, but I realize I could be where I am now by taking a different path; a path where I took each day for what it was and enjoyed it. Basically what I am saying is that I was too caught up in how I wanted things to be, that I was essentially removed from my surroundings. I was so concerned with Dartmouth and college in general that I didn't have time, mentally, to think about other things. That is why I feel that naps, or just breaks in daily routine, are the best things for us. They give time to reflect, and for me, time to figure out what is important.
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