Slow Down, You're Doin' Fine.

           The past couple of days I have left campus feeling discouraged and defeated.  I've sat at the bus stop with my chin in my hand, earphones in my ears, and a dazed look in my eyes.  Today I stepped on the bus on the verge of tears, and one of my favorite songs by Billy Joel came on.  Vienna....

Slow down, you crazy child 
you're so ambitious for a juvenile
But then if you're so smart, tell me
Why are you still so afraid? 

Where's the fire, what's the hurry about? 
You'd better cool it off before you burn it out
You've got so much to do and
Only so many hours in a day 

But you know that when the truth is told..
That you can get what you want or you get old
You're gonna kick off before you even
Get halfway through
When will you realize, Vienna waits for you?

Slow down, you're doing fine 
You can't be everything you want to be
Before your time 
Although it's so romantic on the borderline tonight
Tonight,...
Too bad but it's the life you lead
you're so ahead of yourself that you forgot what you need
Though you can see when you're wrong, you know
You can't always see when you're right. you're right 

You've got your passion, you've got your pride
but don't you know that only fools are satisfied?
Dream on, but don't imagine they'll all come true
When will you realize, Vienna waits for you?

Slow down, you crazy child
and take the phone off the hook and disappear for awhile
it's all right, you can afford to lose a day or two 
When will you realize,..Vienna waits for you?
And you know that when the truth is told
that you can get what you want or you can just get old
You're gonna kick off before you even get half through
Why don't you realize,. Vienna waits for you
When will you realize, Vienna waits for you? 

      

        As I listened to this song, I  thought to myself that everything is going to be okay. I need to calm down.  School is hard, but I need to stop getting so ahead of myself (in several aspects of life) and just slow down, because I am doing fine.  Then I looked at all of the people on the bus around me, and was almost brought to tears (again) thinking about how similar stresses must be weighing on their shoulders as well.  I wanted to stand up in the bus and just say, "you guys are doing alright!  Ya, know?  Give yourself a chance to breathe!"  Of course, I realize that I don't know any of their situations, and maybe they are failing in school because they arent even trying, but there are always reasons for peoples' stresses, and all we can do is muddle along and do our best. 

 You don't always have to get A's in every one of your classes in college - trust me, this is a hard concept for me to grasp as well.  Sometimes you will have to stand up and leave an Economics seminar because it is just way too boring for you to handle at the time, or maybe you need to take your phone off the hook and just disappear for a while.  Just slow down.  You're doing fine.