82 Happy thoughts, thought 17

Hello there, my name is Miranda Holloway, and as a junior I am a member of the 500 something most stressed out people in school. Not only am I a junior but I am a student, along with about 2100 other kids, at one of the top ten high schools in the state and while the stress at any school can get rough, everyone knows that the pressure can be intense and the workload can be high. So in the spirit of staying sane, I have started this blog to remind my fellow knights, and myself for that matter, to stop and smell the roses, take a walk in the park or watch a funny movie; essentially want everyone to take a deep breath and smile. Inspire d by the website 1000awesomethings.com, I will be posting this blog twice a week until the the end to the school year, 82 times in all, about things that are meant to make you grin. Happy moments, enjoyable memories, blissful feelings; you name it, I’ll post it. So, overall, take a minute to just relax and think happy thoughts.

Thought #17- Reasonable expectations/goals

Academically, I had a good first semester. I came into the school year with a lot of goals and expectations for myself. Looking back now, some of my goals were reasonable and others were simply lofty.

One of those lofty goals was thinking that I could write a quality (if I do say so myself) blog twice a week, every week. Seeing as how I am more than half way through the school year and have less than half of my goal (82 thoughts) y, I think it is time to reevaluate what I can logistically handle. This being said, with my ACT and AP tests to look forward to, I think a better goal would be 35 posts by the end of the year.

Welcome to 35 Happy Thoughts , a WEEKLY blog written by a sane and reasonable person with a heavy work load. (A new graphic is in the works).

While some may be saddened by my decrease in posts, I have one thing to say to you: sorry that I’m not sorry.

I really don’t know what I was thinking when I thought that I would be able to handle 82 blog posts in a 40 week school year. Apparently my thinking was that I would never be tired, have any homework and would never be sick (or grumpy for that matter considering these are happy thoughts).

Apparently, the first week of school Miranda was a super hero. A super hero who would try to jump off a building because she thought she could fly. However, she then realizes half way to the ground that she can’t fly because she is, unfortunately, a mortal.

By December, the thought of 82 posts was stressing me out; I could not imagine getting to that point.

I feel good about this new goal though. 35 is a number that I can legitimately see myself reach this year and I am excited to reach that goal.

That’s the great thing about having reasonable expectations, it is easier to be happy about working towards them. This is not to say that you should not challenge yourself, it means that it is important to know one’s self well enough to set expectations that will help you improve or grow as a person.

For example, not everyone can get a 34 on their ACTs. As nice as that would be, many are more suited to get a 30, 25, or 20. A student who is around the 23 mark (on a real test) obsesses over getting a 34 then they are only setting themselves up for disappointment and uncalled for stress.

This is not to say this student should just settle for their 23 and go home and watch T.V. and eat chips for the rest of high school. Rather, it means that maybe a 25 or 26 should be more on their radar as opposed to a 34 .

It’s not about not trying harder it’s about being realistic and knowing one’s self and then trying to improve from there to a place where one can feel happy with the progress they made.

A skinny little freshman can’t expect to be the starting varsity quarterback, but they could start on the freshman or even sophomore team and work their way up. A first year speech team member shouldn’t expect to win state off the bat.

If that kid gets a 34, the freshman starts on varsity and that first year kids wins state, then good for them. However, had they fallen into more attainable goals, then they would be happy with the progress they made instead of falling short of something lofty.

The moral of the story is to be optimistic but realistic; don’t doubt yourself, but know yourself. I can guarantee from personal experience that it is much better to be happy with a reasonable goal than disappointed with an unreasonable one.

Never give up on an idea because it’s too big. ust break it down, step by step, goal by goal because it’s shocking how quickly the consequences of these goals add up.

But don’t just take it from me.
I think Olympian Nastia Liukin said it best “Set daily, monthly, and long term goals and dreams. Don’t ever be afraid to dream too big. Nothing is impossible. If you believe in yourself, you can achieve it.”
Yes nothing’s impossible, except two blogs a week; that’s impossible.
This cheese- fest has been brought to you by Miranda Holloway.

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82 Happy thoughts, thought 17

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