Column: A listicle for when things suck

W hen you go to school at a place like UNC, at times it can feel like you are supposed to be everywhere — class, meetings, sporting events, and performances. You’re supposed to be everything — a leader, a student, in good shape, confident, reliable, a good listener and constantly on your game. And you’re supposed to appear this way to everyone — classmates, professors, parents and friends.

The Southern Part of Heaven can become a pressure cooker, which makes you feel like a baking soda volcano. Anxieties and stresses start to spill over your already-overflowing cup.

Now, I am not a licensed anything, nor do I have actual experience in much, but I know what it feels like to be lost. To walk around on autopilot, sit in class and stare at your computer screen and feel like you’re in a constant fog of self-doubt.

These are reminders for when you feel like you’re losing yourself.

There are different kinds of thoughts we have. Some heavy and some helium-filled. Tie those little, supportive, appreciative thoughts to the ones that weigh you down. Let thoughts that say “Today was perfect,” “Damn, what a great conversation,” and “Wow, what an Instagrammable sunset” be the balloons to lift you from the empty thoughts that drain you.

Sometimes we forget how much we mean to each other. We forget it while studying for exams, writing papers until 3 a.m. and rushing to class. We forget it in small talk in the Pit, lunches with friends and meetings for organizations. But remember it. Remember that you are important to the people around you.

Get off Tumblr. It’s filled with pictures of nature and attractive people with captions about self-loathing and missing your ex-significant other.

Surround yourself with good people. The ones that make you ugly laugh. The ones who will have heart-to-hearts with you in parking lots until 1 a.m. The ones that never dim your shine. Being around these people will remind you how it feels to be the best version of yourself. See yourself as they see you.

Ask for help when you need it. Seriously.

Make a playlist of the songs that make you bop down the street like Tom in “500 Days of Summer.” Give it a good title like “YAAAS” or “Good Playlist.” Listen to it every day.

Write. Run. Order Sup Dogs. Prioritize yourself. Invest in the things that illuminate you and put them at the top of your list. Figure out your area marked “needs improvement” and start duct taping the holes and sewing patches to it.

Make the conscious decision that your glass will be half full. Fill it with whatever you need. Sweet tea to remind you of home, water after your first venture to the SRC in four months, coffee with the friend you’re reconnecting with and wine to cheers to another week spent loving UNC, but, more importantly, loving yourself.