I recently received some advice from Brad Larson, a local business owner. When Larson was a child, his mom took him to the store and gave him $10. She told him he could buy anything he wanted, but he couldn’t buy everything. I have been thinking about this phrase a lot recently: “You can have anything, but you can’t have everything.”
This phrase is especially true in college. Like the cliche, “Pick two: sleep, social life or good grades.” I have a weekly struggle with deciding if I’m going to spend my free time crafting, playing a game or exercising; and let’s face it, exercise never wins.
My current conundrum is only picking one: our lovely two bedroom apartment, a newer car or a vacation. Seeing how I moved twice this summer in order to keep this apartment, breaking contract really wouldn’t be fair to anyone involved, so the other two won’t get a day in the sun until after graduation.
Instead, I’ve been working on appreciating the small things. My apartment is beautiful and the $4 Walmart tablecloth I found does brighten the kitchen. While our car isn’t pretty and sometimes makes odd noises, it does have new tires and never fails to get us where we need to go. A vacation sounds amazing and relaxing, but leaving my phone at home for a day trip to St. George with my husband could do the trick for a fraction of the price.
I could, on the other hand, decide to buy a newer car and go on vacation, but I would have to drop out of school and start working a full time job, probably in sales, to achieve this. And let’s face it, most success stories don’t start with dropping out of school and working sales.
All in all, life is full of give and take. Work for what you really want, but don’t spread yourself too thin. After all, you can have anything, but you can’t have everything.
