When I look back on my time at Cal, I regret spending so much time being unhappy. I look at old photos and old Facebook posts from friends and I realize that I made some of the best friends that anyone could ask for and actually did have a lot of fun experiences, yet I stressed out so much about finals, grades, big life questions, etc...
I should have enjoyed the moment more. "The secret to happiness is wanting what you have". Happiness is not a destination, it's a state of mind. I know now that my time at Cal was not merely stepping stone to something great: I worked my ass off for four years at Cal and one year in a one-year grad program and landed what I thought was the job of my dreams. I ended up quitting that job because I was more stressed out and unhappy than ever. I even moved 3,000 miles away thinking that the answer to happiness was elsewhere, out there, and that I just had to find it; that if I didn't find it, then I must not have worked hard enough to find it.
Happiness is not around the corner. It's now, if you'll let it be now. You can only be where you are now, so you may as well enjoy it. Of all the tasks that you put off for later, don't let happiness be one of those things. Don't look at your life and lament about what you do not have or what you are not doing. Don't buy into the fantasy of "if only ________, then I'll be happy" because that's a big "if". There are too many factors involved. Enjoy right now for what it is. Even if you eventually attain your big dreams of living in another country or meeting the right person and falling in love, know that when you arrive at that moment, there'll still be times of trouble. Perfection is an unrealistic future to stride towards, especially if your ambition blinds you to what you have right now. You are where you are meant to be in this moment.
Things not only "will be" ok --- they ARE ok.
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