Stress over preparedness clouds daily happiness

Anna Douglas 

Editor-in-chief 

Four years ago I prepared for college. 

I prepared my bookbag for the first day of classes, my checklist for my first advising session and my room for the first time my high school friends came to visit. 

I’ve prepared my parents for all sorts of news over the past few years with, “OK, I’m going to say this; now nobody freak out.” 

I’ve prepared for long weekends of camping with friends, a study abroad trip and who knows how many tests. 

I’ve prepared speeches, powerpoints, newspapers, icebreakers, meals and apologies. 

There have only been a handful of times I’ve stopped to think over the last four years, “What exactly is it I’m preparing for?” Of course, when you get close to graduation (presumably something you’ve been “preparing” for), you ask this question more often.

The tangible products of our preparation generally seem to fade—a grade on a test, a well-planned spring break; even the degree you’re handed at graduation is just a piece of paper. 

We probably all know that what we’re “preparing” for is something abstract, perhaps elusive.  

For some, this takes on religious meaning: preparing for a life after this one. 

For others, this is linear: preparing for a job, preparing for a family and then preparing for retirement (feel free to change the order to suit your needs).

Still, for others, preparing is philosophical: preparing for a time in the future to look back on your life and be satisfied. 

I’ve thought about those meanings and various ideas about preparedness. 

And I’ve found the more I think about what we’re all preparing for, the less prepared I feel. 

It’s not so much a feeling of insecurity as it is a feeling of being tired of all the starts and stops.

Go here to get over there and prepare for this to get this. 

So, on May 7, I’m going to stop preparing so much. I’ll go to the ceremony—hell, I’m already prepared for it. 

But after that, I’m going to take off for a little while—live life as unprepared as possible. 

Two months ago, I bought a one-way ticket to Australia. Even the act of booking a flight requires so much preparation.

I’ll be backpacking there for a year, hopefully drifting and meandering as waywardly as possible. 

Despite these plans, however, I know we can’t permanently prevent preparedness. 

My goal, for you and for me, is not to let all this preparing worry us so much. Take chances (even small ones) and do the things you want to do not just things you need to do. 

More often than not, I think you’ll find you’re more prepared than you thought you were.