It is time to get back in touch with your body.

Chances are you have been tuning out your body’s natural signals for years.

You have stayed up late to study for a test.

You can’t eat when you are hungry, because the bell hasn’t rung for lunch.

You go to school even when you’re sick because you don’t want to fall behind.
As a society, we haven’t done very well in helping you learn to listen to the powerful signals are body is sending about your wellbeing.

When you are tired you should sleep.

When you are hungry, listen to your body and figure out what it wants to eat, and then eat it. (When you listen carefully enough, it will choose healthy food most of the time.)

We’ve been letting society dictate what’s good for us way too long.

It’s time to value what your body is trying to tell you.

Your body will thank you.

One of the things that makes going to college so painful is that the change is so abrupt. One day you are being are being taken care of, the next you sucking ketchup packets and calling it dinner.

Well, I might be a bit dramatic.

But, before you make that break and set off on your own to college, start taking over your self-care.

Make choices.

Make mistakes while you are still in a loving home environment.

Feed yourself.

Do your laundry.

But, most importantly, make your changes with love.

You are taking over your parents’ job, so be gentle.

Be the leader of your change.

Give your parents a new way to show you their love other than cleaning your room.

You will have the big payoff of a more gradual entry into college.

Dip your toe.

The water is warm.

Social media, TV, movies, (even parents) all glorify college and how fun it will be.

There’s no way it can live up to that hype.

You’re in for a big let down when you get there find yourself studying in the library instead hanging out at endless parties.

Or hanging out at endless parties and find there are actual consequences.

College is just life somewhere else with all the same cool complexities.

College is life in a different container.

The container can be a trashcan or a silver chalice. You get to pick.

But it’s still just a container.

Try this:

Make a list of everything wonderful you think college will be.

Then next to that write down where you got that idea. Movie, TV, social media, friends, parents…

Then, keep in mind that all of those sources have a reason they may inflate how great college is.

All those reasons boil down to this:

It makes the story exciting.

Can college be awesome?

Definitely

• Freedom
• Like minded people
• Meet different types of people
• In-depth learning

But just like high school isn’t “Gossip Girl”, college isn’t “Pitch Perfect”.

If you can, try visiting a college for a weekend.

Talk to the students.

Ask them the best thing about college and the worst.

That’s the whole picture.