The Game of Life: College Edition Action moments

Recently, an empty room in my four bedroom apartment was filled by a sorority girl from my school. On top of that, one of my other roommates came back from studying abroad. I went from basically living by myself to having a full house, with the occasional stay from my old teammate who goes back and forth between her parents house and our apartment. I’ll have to admit, it was so nice staying by myself. The kitchen was always clean, as was the fridge. There wasn’t a whole lot going on at my house very often and if there was, it was just my two best friends being over to watch whatever show they were hooked on that week. Now, all of that has changed. They aren’t the worst roommates by any means, but I have had to put my mom shoes on and get after them to clean their dishes and keep the fridge organized. I tend to get pretty worked up about cleanliness, or the lack thereof, but I feel like I have handled this a lot better now than I have in the past. This feeling really hit me when I was woken up on my one off day, by my new roommate blasting music throughout the entire house while also yelling to whoever she was talking to on the phone. I walked out of my room to investigate, and noticed one of my brand new meal prep boxes on the kitchen counter. I asked her where she got it and funnily enough told her I had just acquired one exactly like that. She proceeded to say she found it in one of our cabinets and asked if it was mine. I said yes of course, and when she asked if she could use it, I sternly but politely put my foot down and said no. I meal prep every week and use those containers. My other roommate has her own containers for which she does the same. Although I was standing up for myself, I wasn’t being ugly and also wasn’t getting as worked up internally as I used to. Normally, in moments like these, I would be filled with anxiety and frustration, and it would feel almost like a buzzing sensation in my brain and body. This time, however, I was strangely calm. Granted, when I retold this encounter to my parents I got heated because I had more time to think about it. But, as I was reflecting on that moment I was brought back to the lack of that buzzing feeling in my body. It was nice to not get so worked up over something that is a pet peeve of mine. I talked through this with my friends and family and chalked it up to my therapy and self-growth journey. It’s awesome to rethink about that moment and physically feel the change that my clear mind state has caused. Those action moments are where things like emotional control and overall headspace changes show, and I passed that test with flying colors. Don’t be afraid to rethink these action moments even if you are still working on your headspace and emotions, and celebrate the wins when you notice a positive change. They may not show all the time, but all this work on yourself isn’t for nothing. In some moments you can actually feel the difference!