Connection Piece: Don’t Take Yourself Too Seriously

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February 17, 2022

Being the youngest in your family puts you in a unique position. Your parents have gained some parenting skills through trial and error on your brother and sister, you get extra spoiled because your mom forever sees you as a nine-year-old, and maybe most valuable of all, you get to learn wisdom from your older siblings’ life experiences.

Now, I gained most of this insight from my siblings through observation, but one time in particular, it was in the form of intent listening. For some context, I didn’t get my license until I was 18 (high school Jordan lacked some ambition), and as a result my brother was forced to drive me around from time to time. For the life of me I cannot recall where we were heading or what prompted this conversation, but I vividly remember being in the passenger seat of my brother’s Nissan Sentra when he turned to me and said, “Jordan, here’s the best life advice I ever received”. I look up to my brother greatly so you can imagine I was at full attention to make sure I didn’t miss a word he was about to say.

“Don’t take yourself too seriously.”

Huh? There was no elaboration other than that, a mentor of his told him that very statement in high school. I nodded back in affirmation, meanwhile my brain grasped no meaning in this profound life-altering statement shared with me. It’s been a few years since that evening and I’ve often wrestled with the significance of my brother’s words of wisdom, and now I feel as though I’ve finally gained an understanding of them.

Friend, if you’re reading this you’re likely a fellow college student living out some of the most confusing, complicated years of your entire life. I don’t need to describe to you the feeling of feeling entirely lost about who you really are, what you’re supposed to do with yourself, where you ought to be heading, how to navigate relationships of any and all kinds, how you’re supposed to feel about hot topics, or what decade is in style (seriously, is the 80’s in right now? 2000’s? everyone on this campus looks like they just hopped out of a time machine from a different year. idk).

Here’s the good news, that is okay. You are learning, I am learning, everyone around you is learning. You’re here to get an education (among other reasons), right? Your professor doesn’t hand you the final exam on the first day of class and expect you to get every answer right. So why do we get upset with ourselves for not getting parts of life right when we’ve never encountered it before? Instead of feeling like your world is falling apart because you made a poor decision, laugh and learn from it. Grow, gain wisdom, try to obtain a better understanding on how to navigate life’s many challenges, but goodness, give yourself some grace while you do it. Surround yourself with friends and community who will build you up and point out when you’re being a little ridiculous. Go to the God who gives His children second, third, fourth, fifth, a thousandth chances. Find comfort in knowing that you aren’t supposed to know, and then move forward with a loving Father who knows what lies ahead and promises to be with you through it all.

Take this not from someone who’s decades older than you, but from a friend who’s right there by your side in the thick of it: Enjoy your time, work your butt off, give yourself a break, and don’t take yourself too seriously.

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