In Mrs. White’s English II GT class, we are assigned to read the inspirational book titled Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom. As I was looking at the plans for the final project, ironically on a Tuesday night, I was really touched by one of the aphorisms that Mrs. White had graciously typed up for us. The one that I connect the most with was “So many people walk around with a meaningless life. They seem half-asleep, even when they’re busy doing the things they think are important. This is because they’re chasing the wrong things. The way you get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning” (Albom 43). There are endless possibilities of how someone can connect to this aphorism, but my way I connect to this goes much deeper than the norms.

I personally connect to this aphorism because I feel just like the people Morrie describes as half-asleep and chasing things they think they are important. Ever since elementary school, I have been obsessed with making straight A’s. As I grow older, that becomes more difficult. I have stressed myself so much that I have literally woken up on the floor with a teacher standing over my head. People have told me not to put so much stress on myself, and that making a B occasionally is still a great job. I have even tried to tell myself that that it is okay, and that it is not the end of the world, but I still find myself with tears streaming down my face at the sight of a B on my Power School. I can tell myself this a million times over, and I am still stuck. I am still so stuck to my same day-to-day anxieties that I fear that when I look back at my life, I will find it was meaningless. I will wish that I had taken the time to slow down, make more friends, and just plain socialize more. Even while I am writing these words, I know I will never change. Believe me; I have tried many times before. I am on a roller coaster that has no end, and I am starting to get dizzy.