As you can imagine, being a college student taught me many things and even consolidated concepts ‘to live by’ that I have since used for subsequent decades.
Here are five things I still do that may be good for all young adults to incorporate into their lives:
- Make sure to pray every day. Every. Day. Save some time, preferably in the morning before the day gets away, to talk to the Lord. It is fashionable nowadays to meditate. That’s great. Prayer is a very effective form of meditation as well as drawing us closer to the Source of all life. Just remember that your goal is not to “empty yourself” but rather to stay your mind on God. Read His Word through the Scriptures.
- Move your body. Structured workouts are good but so are taking a walk or the stairs when you don’t have time for anything else. Exercising regularly helps with mood, sleep and overall well-being. In addition to your music or podcast, maybe slip in the rosary or intercessory prayer for others. St. Benedict had it right when he said, “Pray and work”.
- Work at your vocation, work, or study as onto the Lord. What does that mean? It means offering up every aspect of your life to the Lord as you live your life. A student could offer that tedious study session, a young mother that umpteenth chore, or an elderly person the many small and large inconveniences of aging. Instead of saying, “Why me?” say, “Why not me?”.
- Stay connected. Cultivate friendships and relationships. Do not isolate yourself. It has become easier to interact only digitally with the world. It has become very easy to drown in 24/7 entertainment and news, text or DM with people and not have any real contact with a real human being for days on end. If ‘working from home’ has done anything, it has increased this tendency to isolate. Interacting with flesh and blood people can be messy. Be quick to laugh and ready to forgive and understand. Be slow to speak and slow to take offense.
- Give back. No matter how old you are, you are called to give back something to your community. It may be easier to seek out opportunities to volunteer at different stages of life, but the obligation to care for others remains a fundamental human duty. No time to volunteer? Be kind and compassionate to needy friends or family members. Be an attentive ear to that person who is suffering or needs to vent. Catholic magisterial teaching proposes very concrete examples in the Corporal and Spiritual Works of mercy.
