Are we too busy at Notre Dame?

We just started spring break, and it got me thinking…When is enough, actually ever enough?

In high school,  everything you do is under a microscope. Everything you do, matters for getting in to the college of your dreams. Every class you take, every grade you get, every club you join, every hour you volunteer, every standardized test score, gets put in to an application for you to “get to the next level.” That is the idea. To keep going until you get… What?

What is it we are trying to achieve? Once you get to college, it starts all over. You go to the Student Activities Night to sign up for some of the hundreds of clubs on campus. Before you know it, you are getting emails about clubs whose meetings you’ve never attended, from people you’ve never met, for a major that you switched out of your second week of first semester freshman year.

Eating lunch while simultaneously doing homework

We run at the speed of light, all the time. The plight of the typical student is that they are never doing enough.

People say that in college, you are able to do more of what you love.

But why is it that I hear time and time again about people doing things and joining activities because it looks good on their resume and it will help them get a job. I am not saying that everything we have to do is easy or enjoyable. I don’t always like doing my math homework where there are more letters than numbers…Actually, I never like that. But I do it, because it’s part of my major, I enjoy math (with numbers) and I don’t want to flunk out of school. But why is it that we subject ourselves to things that are so far from our passion?

Making plans while on the phone and walking to class

I am so busy on Mondays that, to get my run in for the day, I run during lunch, I eat lunch while walking to class, and I have three meetings that start within 45 minutes of each other. Is that any kind of way to live? When did I start saying yes to everything so that I can make my name look better on paper?

I guess the better question would be– why did I never stop?

Everything I do is to make what I do in the future better. Right now, it’s about doing well in college to get the best job.

When did busyness become a virtue? Why is it a contest among students to see who got less sleep? What about who is participating in more… Or better yet, who has gone longer without seeing their friends? There is a point where it doesn’t matter anymore.

Being productive is great, but you know what else is? Sitting around eating a pizza and playing video games with your friends. It is okay to take a moment to yourself. It is okay, if in the middle of a run, you stop just to take in nature. It is okay to skip a workout. It is okay to say no to a new responsibility, a new commitment.

Falling asleep at a random table because sleep deprivation

It’s time to stop running. It’s time to catch your breath.

Enough is enough. Don’t let your hours slip away without noticing how you are really spending them. Go have fun. Take some risks. Let loose. It’s going to be okay, I promise. As a wise person once said, “Live the life you wanna lead because none of us get out of it alive.”