WORDS OF WISDOM: Find It Under Your Feet

LIA VOSTI

We all have bad days, whether it be because you are sad, tired, heart broken, stressed, or exhausted; "If I just had an interrupted 36 hours between today and tomorrow, I would could accomplish everything I need to!" Sometimes bad days are expected and sometimes they hit us out of the blue; either way, they are inevitable. And when they do, you often feel like there is no hope for anything. 

Teddy Roosevelt once said, “Do what you can, with what you have, where you are,” and it’s so true! Bad days happen. But that doesn’t mean you should give up on everything you were trying to accomplish that day. Maybe you can’t do everything, but you can do something. Maybe you can’t be the energetic, lively person you were hoping to be that day, but you can choose not to be a pessimistic, crabby person.

You may ask, “How?” I cannot answer that for you, but you can: it’s different for everyone, you know yourself better than anyone else. Often when I’m having a bad day, I just feel like I need a little support; I think this is true for all of us. So find it! Find it under your feet. In her book, Writing Down the Bones, author Natalie Goldberg creates an eye-opening image of the idea of support when she says: “We should notice that we are already supported at every moment. There is the earth below our feet and there is the air, filling our lungs and emptying them. We should begin from this when we need support.” 

So next time you’re having a bad day or just feel like everything is going wrong, take a moment to pause and think about what is supporting you. Start with the simplest forms of support. There is earth below your feet supporting your body; there is oxygen filling your lungs; you can see; you can breathe; you can think; you can feel. So despite how un-ideal your day may be, you already have a lot going for you!

We are often told when we are children to “count our blessings.” Well, I think we adults should count our blessings twice as often because the more busy and complicated your life gets, the easier it is to forget. So be grateful that you can stand and sit and breathe and think and read and have the capacity to feel support, whether it is from a friend, your mom or dad, or simply the ground under your feet.

So next time you feel like your day is not going as well as you hoped, whether it be because you’re drowning in school or work stresses, you’re exhausted, someone in your life isn’t acting as you hoped, or whatever it may be, pause and find your support; find it under your feet. Unless you’re in outer space, the earth is below you, I promise :)

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The Words of Wisdom Column, Lia Vosti:

Lia Vosti is an undergraduate at Santa Clara University, majoring in Bioengineering. Growing up together, her words always made the most obscure situations crisp and clear. She is the up and coming Renaissance woman, able to give homely advise after a day in the lab, and wise beyond her years.