I believe that this quote perfectly sums up my past couple of weeks. As my final 9 weeks of high-school rolls around, I can say that I am feeling that senior slide (a.k.a. senioritis). As I go through my day, I no longer stress about what assignments I have to complete that night, but how can I soak in my last moments in the halls of my school. I want to leave high-school knowing that I had fun, especially these last few weeks. Not wanting to look back and see stressing assignments, dooming deadlines, or pressing papers, I hope that these last few months are full of memories that I will look back on and smile.

Being totally honest, I’m a perfectionist. I think about tasks way too much, getting caught up in any possible mistakes or failures. When I was starting club soccer, I would spend so much time worrying about making a mistake during the game that the coach would have to sub me out and “reset” my mind, telling me that it was ok. This only got worse as I grew older. My english papers would keep my up at night, editing and re-editing my writing until the words ran together on the screen. Looking back, it was not fun.

Now that I’ve switched my focus, I’m allowing myself the ability to breath and do what I actually want to pursue. I’ve joined the inaugural women’s lacrosse team at my high-school and absolutely love it! I’ve only had 4 practices, but I’ve had so much fun during our hour and a half time together each day. Every day, I talk walks with my best friend. We have no idea where we go, but we enjoy wandering campus talking about whatever comes to mind. In fact, I’ve discovered some things about my campus that I didn’t even know existed during my last 4 years!

It’s crazy how one small change in mindset can do. Sure, I’m still a perfectionist at heart (I’ll probably edit this piece a few times before I post it), but I’ve no learned that it’s ok to pair that perfection with my new mindset of what Nichols calls wholeness. If we live our lives like it’s our last, soaking in every minute of it, we gain so much more than living in desire of perfection. No one has ever lived a perfect life. Each life is different, unique in its own way. If you feel like your life is whole and meaningful, then it’s a perfect one. Don’t let anybody convince you otherwise.