#Blessed

Boston College got rid of the CTRC, and now the lines to print on the third floor of O’Neill are ridiculously long, especially because only three printers are actually working. #blessed  

I got the last pick time for classes and everything I really wanted to take was already closed by the time I got to register. #blessed

Went to spin class for the first time and I fell off the bike. #blessed

Recently there has been a trend on social media to use the hashtag “blessed” ironically, and I am one of the biggest addicts.  Whenever something is unfavorable or just downright annoying, I take to Twitter or Snapchat to document just how irritated and unlucky I am by using #blessed.

I feel like I have been finding a lot to complain about lately as we enter the most stressful part of the semester.  Lack of sleep makes me cranky, I have no idea how to balance the different people and things in my life, and there is so much stress and anxiety from all of the impending finals.  I find it hard to see beyond the stack of books and the ticking time bomb of the next deadline in front of me.  How can you say life is good when I feel like I am just in shambles? Even on a grander scale, look at the world around us.  If you turn on the news, you will see a hundred reasons to lose faith in humanity and be bitter.  It seems that there has been so much cruelty and chaos recently, particularly during a time when there is extreme racial tension nationwide, disease, and fighting.  Where is God in all of this? Where is the good? 

As if I hadn’t been crabby enough, I made the rookie mistake of forgetting my headphones in my room before I left for Thanksgiving break.  I may not have been able to listen to Taylor Swift’s new CD on repeat, but what I heard around me instead made me much happier.  I was on a plane filled with people who were buzzing with excitement about returning home to Ohio for the holiday.  They were enthusiastically chatting with strangers about their hometowns, the Browns, and their high schools, and it made me feel so fortunate to be from a place with such pride and solidarity.  After three months in Boston, I was beyond excited to come home, stuff my face with great food, and hug my dog.  I began thinking that just the mere fact that I have such a loving and supportive family to go home to is more than a lot of people can say.  I can’t imagine how incredibly tough it is to be or feel alone around the holiday season.  I have a roof over my head in two different and amazing places in the country.  I have the opportunity to get an education at not just any university, but from Boston College.  I have friends who care about and for me. I have a dog that is excited to see me every single time I walk through the front door.  I am incredibly blessed with so many things that I tend to take for granted because I choose to focus on the day-to-day stresses and setbacks instead.  Even on the hardest days, we still wake up in the morning with a beating heart and breathing lungs, and that in itself is a gift at the very basic level. 

 I may joke about it, but I am truly #blessed, and I’m sure if you take a step back and look at your life, you will find that you are too.