Patience Grasshopper

I have received several calls and text messages from students (and parents) these past few weeks. As we wait for the final decision letters from colleges to come out late March/early April, anxiety levels are rising. Some of the things I’m hearing are:

“I can’t keep waiting like this. I’m going crazy!’

“I’m losing my mind and running out of patience.”

“This is miserable.”

“I’m just irritated….as I’m sure all your client parents are when their child gets a ‘no’ from any school.”

“Gotta tell you, I’ve lost confidence in this process…..he is the strongest candidate from his high school and they deny him?!”

My response?

Patience Grasshopper. Trust the process. Don’t allow your thoughts to be consumed with this ONE decision notification. Focus on those who have already admitted you/your child and embrace the waiting. Focus on the good. It will work out. (At least if you planned appropriately, it should work out.) Breathe….

I participated in a mindfulness study a few years back. The research study was teaching high school students “What I attend to grows.” Basically it means what we allow our thoughts to focus on grows bigger. Stronger. So if we allow our thoughts to focus on the negative, or the length of time something is taking, or the undesirable responses, the negative will win. Every. Time. BUT! But, if we allow our thoughts to focus on the positive, the potential of what could be, the here and now, what to be grateful for in this very moment, the GOOD also will grow. We start to see the POSITIVE things in our lives and things don’t seem so bad when we receive an unfavorable response from a college or we have to wait another day. This isn’t a practice that only works in the college admissions process but it works in everyday life too!

So, as we continue to wait for these final decision letters from colleges, let’s all take a deep inhale and exhale. There will be more to this story later but for now, this is enough.