My "Aha" Moment

My entire life, I have always been a perfectionist - especially when it came to school. In high school, I would not accept anything lower than a 97%. That being said, I have never considered myself naturally smart. I have always believed that I only did well in school because I worked hard and spent many hours studying. When I came to college, I knew that school was going to be even more difficult and I would probably be spending countless hours studying in the library. Oh how true that was. But what made it even worse was that even with these long nights of studying, I still wasn't doing well on exams. One day, as I fell into bed with not a single ounce of energy left in my body, I knew something needed to change. My stress levels were so high, and I was constantly feeling overwhelmed and discouraged. This is when I had my "aha" moment. I realized that no matter what I did, I had no control over the outcome of things in my life; all I could control were my efforts. This may seem like a no-brainer, but it completely turned my life around. I learned that as long as I knew I tried my best, it was okay to accept whatever outcome came my way. If I did poorly on a test, but knew I had studied as much as I could, then I was okay with that. No longer did the outcome matter, just my efforts. I know that God will lead my life in the direction it is supposed to go as long as I am doing my part. I have been so much happier since I've taken this approach in my life, and I challenge you to try it for yourself.  :)