When it rains, it pours

Sometimes life doesn't throw you lemons, it chucks them at you and knocks you down. This happened to me recently. My car died, the handles of my bike fell off, my computer broke, I got sick. All in the middle of finals week of my hardest semester. I feel like I'm usually pretty good at brushing these things off, but not this time. Every time something new hit, it was harder to get back up. I called my Mom, like I do during any life crisis, and just let it all go. For the first time in my life I allowed myself to really spiral down into a negative vacuum until I came to what I perceived as the very real conclusion that grad school was a mistake and I was going to end up jobless in my parents' attic. After listening to my drastic escalation, my Mom said, "Jeff, when it rains it pours." After she said this I didn't get how that was supposed to help. But the more I thought about it, I realized that we have so many resources to protect ourselves from pouring rain, just like I'm never alone when I feel like life is pushing me down.

This week showed me that the people around me will always help me back up. Being able to freak out to my Mom or call one of my sisters to get my mind off school, getting a much needed afternoon break from studying at Mount Vernon, catching up with a friend over dinner, studying for finals with a really good group, receiving incredible Christmas gifts from friends. All of these things helped me to get back up. And when it comes down to it, my problems are so minuscule compared to others, so I should stop worrying about my problems and focus on how I can help others. 

So ya, when it rains it pours. But luckily we don't have to go through it alone.

Me and my buddy Ciprian after a Romanian summer storm