By The Editorial Board
As college students, there is pressure to base your future on the career of your choice. While it may sound cliche, a more fulfilling way to navigate the next phase of life is by establishing and maintaining strong relationships.
An 85-year study done by Harvard determined that the No. 1 thing that makes us happy is relationships. With that being the case, why has it become normal to base our lives around work?
Well, there is a connection between enjoying work and being satisfied with life. However, the connection fails to depict what happens outside of work. One-on-one connection drives most of our lives, no matter if it’s with family, friends or significant others. By prioritizing work, you make missteps in creating a sense of joy and deviate from a more fulfilling sense of happiness.
The current tendency is flawed. For example, it would be somewhat frowned upon to travel across the nation to pursue a romantic relationship, whereas you may be congratulated for moving thousands of miles for a better job. The Harvard study went on to find that 40% of people’s happiness comes simply from the choices they make. Thus, by choosing to prioritize human connection instead of a sense of stability at work, happiness levels should rise.
In the classic sense, happiness is purely the ability to express joyful emotions. However, family and community are key to creating happy experiences because they help us cope with negative ones. One of the main functions of a family or community atmosphere is to establish a sense of support and belonging, which cannot be attained through a job.
Now, you shouldn’t feel like you have to sacrifice your career. Rather, pursue a combination of healthy friendships and romantic relationships. This is where lots of judgments surround these ideas.
In the same way that the “perfect job” is unrealistic, it is just as unrealistic to chase connections. The difference lies in the fact that with relationships, there are two or more parties who are invested, while in many work situations, you are the one who is forced to make changes to make things work.
In the same way, you shouldn’t feel as if you need to sacrifice your relationships for a job or opportunity that arises. Steady relationships will be with you no matter how physically distant you are, and there is more than one job that can create a sense of success.
There are fruitful opportunities in small towns and big cities, and maybe the opportunity you are looking for is already available right where you are. So with this in mind, relationships and careers should go hand in hand, and one doesn’t need to be left on the back burner just so that the other works out.
It’s OK to build your future off of relationships and genuine connections. Instead of hunkering down and becoming focused on the idea of a place you want to be, look toward the people with whom you want to share those memories.
