First World Problems

To be honest, I have plenty of them. I have lots of large projects to complete, a Senior Project to finish, a graduation party to plan, a summer pre-calculus to sign up for, and a once dislocated and now healing knee that needs to be drained of whatever gross fluids accumulate after a dislocation injury. Ugh.

I think the one thing I hate more than having all of these problems in the first place is the fact that I have myself riled up over them. I am certain that I am a lot better off than almost anyone living in a third world country, and better off than at least half of the people living in first world countries. Nonetheless, this fact really doesn't make me feel any better.

Even though I certainly feel like all of these things are a pain, deep down I know these are simple and even silly things. Sure, senior projects are stressful, but graduation parties are supposed to be fun. Signing up for a pre-calc class shouldn't be too difficult and my knee will definitely heal with some rest and rigorous physical therapy. What I am trying to say is that there is a far greater reason as to why I am stressed out over such trivial things.

My reasoning behind this kind of anxiety and fatigue is that with great success there comes expectations. Why on earth am I talking about this? Because I believe that everything I get done in the present greatly effects how my future plays out. If I don't finish my senior project, I will most certainly fail, and then I won't graduate, which means I wouldn't be able to go to an amazing college this fall, which would be incredibly embarrassing. When you are as well off as I am (and you want to remain well off), you can't afford to be an embarrassment. If I don't help my mom plan that graduation party, she would be upset with me and the party wouldn't be any fun for me, which would suck because you only get one high school graduation party. With all of the stress you feel every single day during school, you need a nice party to blow off steam. If I don't sign up for a pre-calc class, I won't be taking a pre-calc class, so I would be very much behind when I get to college, which means I might be set back by a whole semester, which would make for a very stressful 4 years of my life. Another four years of stressful catch up and high demands would be terrible. As for my knee, it's just a complete pain. No one likes to dislocate anything.

I know it sound like I'm saying "it's hard being smart and fortunate," but no matter where you are in life, there will always be challenges to overcome and plenty of stress. I do recognize that the fact that I have a lot to be thankful for and a lot of perks with my situation, but sometimes life gets a little overwhelming and you just want to let out a cry of frustration.

I guess what I'm saying is that I have a right to complain about my first world problems and at the same time, I don't. We all do, all of us first-world natives. I guess the best we can do is go easy on ourselves and try to be thankful for what we have. Life is stressful and fun.

Cheers to life in a first-world country!