As the song goes, “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year.” Is it really? Come to think about it, it is probably one of the least wonderful times of the year. With finals, travel arrangements, gifts to buy, dealing with cold and flu season,  bills, and hearing (or not hearing) back from job prospects, it can be one of the most stressful times of the year.
So the question is, “Should we be happy when faced with all these difficulties?” In my viewpoint, yes.
My mother would always tell me when facing difficulties that life is not fair. It is more than likely that at least once in your life, you will be mistreated, ignored, have you heart broken, and have a dream or two taken away from you.
Wait, I thought this is supposed to be an inspiring article!
Don’t worry, I’m getting to that part.
The struggles and pains of life are important. However, one should be mindful of what a struggle in life really means. Now, not to put down anyone’s accomplishments in law school, but it’s kind of funny when I hear students complaining about some of their “problems.” Comments like “I’m so worried about this reading assignment,” or “I’m having so much trouble writing this Law Review Article” are particularly hilarious. Why might you ask? Because in the end, we choose to come to law school, and we chose to take up this mantle. Above that, you might have also chosen to apply for Law Review, Moot Court, or even run for SBA, so fighting for the prize, and then complaining after you win the prize carries little weight in my mind. Now, this is not saying that awards can’t bring further problems, as in fact they often do. What I am saying is that in the face of everything, many of our so called “problems” are but grains of sand.
We have all achieved much, as evidenced by the fact that we are here in law school now. The fact that we often fail to see is that the big picture often hurts us more then it helps. We get lost in the small details and despite our achievements we seem less well off then when we started. Today’s fast pace and stressful society only increases that problem.
So is there an answer? Is it possible to keep the big picture in mind or keep our spirits up given all the difficulties we face everyday? Yes, but its not an easy one to understand. It requires us to remind ourselves everyday of why we are in law school or anywhere in life’s journey for that matter. We must take all of life’s small things and be able to fit it to our goals. This is not always an easy task, but the pursuit of such goals often define us more than reaching such goals. The real problem one faces in life is if you get to a point and can not fit those pieces into a bigger picture. For these people, they have no goals and the little things in life become truly pointless.

John Bayard
Chaplain, Christian Legal Society

John is a 2L and can be reached at forum@valpo.edu.