Nick Demaris

Words to Live by

Failing a chemistry exam in your 12:30 chem lab at SUNY Cortland and letting that

grade affect the rest of your day and even week, is terrible for you. Having a moment where you

think too much about what happened or letting something get to you for more than 30 minutes

can cause a lot of unneeded stress and anxiety. I never let anything that I can’t control affect me,

this helps with stress so much. This attribute and feeling I get is fueled by one phrase, f--- it we

ball. This phrase was brought up by internet trends. It means, it’s whatever we are still going

strong.

This past Valentine’s Day I had two exams back-to-back, the first was history and the

second was anatomy. The history exam happened to be 70 questions long. I didn’t know the

entire third page of the exam, but I did not let that affect me as I was walking to my anatomy

exam right after I finished that history exam. I walked out of that history class in the professional

studies building and said f--- it we ball. I moved onto the next exam and didn’t let that affect me.

If I had let that exam affect me I probably would have done bad on my anatomy exam as well.

This is a great example because stressing over one small thing can just cause a domino effect

throughout the day or even week. This phrase can be used for so many experiences and situations

that you cannot control. Test was hard, got rejected, lost that game, tripped down the stairs,

didn’t get that job, missed that deadline; f--- it we ball. Nothing in life is permanent. Recognizing

the transient nature of existence allows us to let go of attachments and embrace the beauty of the

present moment. By releasing our attachment to specific outcomes, we open ourselves up to the

infinite possibilities that lie ahead.

 A lot of people may struggle with the idea of embarrassment and not being able to let go

of something that happened in the past or something that might happen in the future. This phrase

can help those certain individuals to cope with the embarrassment or shame and just move on

with life. A lot of people don’t realize in the moment that you only live once. You have so little

time throughout the day to do the things you want to do, so why make your day even shorter by

worrying about something that you shouldn’t worry about.

Certainly, failing a random exam on a Tuesday afternoon is not going to destroy the next

50 years of your life. As a society we should learn to let things go and not let them bother us

because at the end of the day, when we’re old and wrinkly in a retirement home, none of us will

be stressing about that chemistry exam we failed back in college on a Tuesday. Sometimes you

just have to say f--- it we ball and move on with life.