Column: The Way I See It; Best option for dealing with ‘Real Life’ is denial
Today, I’ve decided to play the self-help-shrink-guru-thing. This week’s topic: keeping Real Life from completely driving you crazy.
When you’re having social, family and/or personal troubles (what I call Real Life), the last thing you want to think about is school. It’s just one more thing to pile on your already-full plate and you have a big mouthful to chew as it is. Somehow, though, when Real Life is weighing down on you, immersing yourself in school seems to make it less of a problem.
I’m not sure exactly how it works, but when I roll out of bed in the morning, flip my hair in a ponytail, put on a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt and go to campus not caring how I look – but just go to get my schoolwork done, I have a wonderful day.
It happened last week. I had no desire to deal with Real Life and I quit caring about impressing people. So, I dove into my schoolwork and I came out with a sense of accomplishment and productivity. It could be compared to going to the bar after a really hard week, but without the nasty hangovers.
Luckily for me, personal strain has come right at midterm time, when I have a number of tests to study for and projects due. There is plenty to keep me busy and from worrying about meeting my social obligations. Even when (or if) the pile of homework is whittled down to nothing, I still have enough self-inflicted tasks to keep me occupied.
As busy as I am, I sort of wish that crap like this would happen to me more often (sort of).
When the caller ID shows a certain phone number or a certain e-mail address shows up on my account, I ignore it and open up my French textbook. It’s given me an excuse to avoid the people that are causing me problems (for the record, and for the purposes of this column being printed in The Statesman, all anyone needs to know is that it’s not my family, roommates or anyone in Logan that’s giving me this grief).
Keeping busy has helped me keep my Real Life problems in perspective. These things could seem like the end of the world one minute, but once I focus on something else pertinent, it’s not that big of a deal. Once I realized that I had other things to do and other things that were so much more important, my troubles slid to the backburner where they belonged (heck, some of them were relegated to being leftovers in the fridge).
So what? What do The Statesman’s readers at Utah State care how I spend my days? I’ll tell you why. One day, you may find yourself wanting to tell someone or something where to go and how to get there. You probably won’t know what to do to make yourself feel better about it, whether or not it was your fault or someone else being a jerk. Maybe you’ll remember what the little, obnoxious columnist at the school newspaper wrote and decide to give her advice a shot. Maybe it’ll work and change your life and you’ll want to look her up to tell her so and maybe you’ll put her in touch with your uncle that happens to be a magazine editor.
(OK, I’m joking about that last part).
I’m not saying completely become a hermit and bury yourself in your room and away from every single person in the world. I’m not even saying that this is the best or even only method of coping with problems. I’m saying find where things are supposed to fit in life. When life gets you down, find something that gets your mind off the problem. If that something happens to be the ever-growing pile of midterm homework, so much the better for your level of stress.
Now all I have to do is wait for that self-help internship from Dr. Phil.
Chrissy Johnson’s column appears in The Statesman every Wednesday. Comments can be sent to chrijohn@cc.usu.edu.