The Joy of Missing Out

The life of a college student is exhausting. We are overcommitted and over socialized. Someone once said college life is like a triangle. Where you can choose between good grades, a social life and sleep. Out of the three, you can only choose two. However in reality it is more of an octagon than a triangle. Considering the environment at Pepperdine, no one ever settles with just two.

I used to be one of the many students that planned their lives strictly around their social calendar. However I have slowly learned that I do not need to go to every party or social gathering. When I first started to lessen my party attendance, I experienced some withdrawals and FOMO. Eventually as I began to catch up on my sleep and stopped being sick as often, I began to find joy in skipping certain social activities.

I believe a large part of JOMO is realizing that distance makes the heart grow fonder. When someone doesn't see a person for a while they are much more excited when they do. But when people see someone on a regular and often too frequent basis, they risk the chance of becoming taken for granted.

For me, the most accurate description for when I experience JOMO is when I am home and I get to do nothing but relax. I lay in bed, watch a movie, do a face mask and take a moment for myself. As I lay there I look through people's snapchat stories. There are usually pictures of people partying and having a wild time. but when I see those scenes, I don't wish I was there.

I have been there, I go there and it is always the same. Therefore I am not truly missing out rather, I am just taking the night off. This idea of "taking the night off" would have seemed almost impossible as a freshman or sophomore. However as I have grown up I have realized that taking time for myself is one of the greatest gifts I can give myself. I used to think that doing everything at 50% was the best option. But now I have realized that doing some things at 100% is a much wiser method.

To sum it up, I believe that there is a direct connection between understanding the value of time and JOMO. Once someone discovers the value of time they then can decide the best ways to use it. do they want to spend their time engaging in pointless activities or would they rather spend time bettering themselves? For me I would rather do the latter.