“If you don’t calm the f*** down you are going to the bench.”
These eloquent words were once yelled by a wise man by the name of Jimbo Fisher to a less than wise boy, Jameis Winston, and they resonate true to me by inspiring me to never let life get the best of me.
In life, our own worst enemies tend to be the most unlikely of suspects: ourselves. I know personally. I tend to be the most hard on myself when I should be my own biggest cheerleader. But why is that?
I stress over not working out hard enough or over how my articles for the paper turn out each week. The aspects I choose to beat myself up about are definitely not matters of life or death, but I still find myself critiquing and nit-picking every single thing I do.

This is why I have made it my new year’s resolution to be proud of myself. I’m going to start patting myself on the back more often. I’m going to start celebrating even my smallest of accomplishments, such as making it to my 8 a.m. class the morning after staying up late to watch the college football national championship game. Quit stressing over not being able to escape taking Friday classes this semester or about the fact that crab legs are so dang expensive, and it would be much cheaper if you just stole them.
Quit obsessing about why he hasn’t texted you back in a week and driving yourself insane wondering if he’s ever going to respond. Odds are you’ll probably receive a late-night text from him after a night of funneling beers and downing shots that might as well have been used as lighter fluid. I hope if you do happen to respond to his romantic gesture that you do so by politely telling him to calm down, put him on the bench, and then maybe even take him out of the game for the whole season that is your life.

You teach others how to treat you, so treat yourself with respect. Acknowledge the fact that you are only human. You are going to make mistakes, but you’ve made it this far in life and that is something to be proud of.
If you are that person who is constantly overreacting and stressing out, odds are you will have worn yourself out far before the second half of the game of your life, and now you have put yourself at risk of someone else intercepting some of the amazing opportunities life throws your way.
So calm down and bench your negativity, whether it’s people or your own inner thoughts. Bench your stress and start putting your passions and positivity into the game. Who knows, you may even find yourself on a winning streak worth being proud of.