My happiness vs. your happiness

I get a lot of crap for not being your average college girl. What do I mean? Well, I don't enjoy going out and partying as much as my peers. This doesn't mean I don't go out, it just means that if I end up sitting at home on a Friday night watching lifetime in sweat pants, that is fine by me. I have friends who love to go out, who can't imagine their life without the bars and parties and blacking out at least 3 times a week. Now, I won't lie, in my earlier years (the first 2 years of college) I was a party all nighter from South Carolina. (I couldn't resist the song reference.) I just feel like there is, or at least there should be, an expiration date on your party life. It's all fun and games for a while, but you reach a point when you need to settle down and prioritize and focus on what really matters. If you get a chance to go out every not and then, awesome, if not, no big deal. I have a friend, who was right there with me for all of my fun, but while I have slowed down, she is still on going. I am honestly amazed, and actually a little jealous. She has amazing grades, stays involved, but still finds times to go party. My one issue with going out is, people see you and people talk. I had someone say to me, "I say your friend (name) at the game last week, she was so drunk she fell every time she tried to walk." I was embarrassed for her. Maybe it's just me, but I don't want people to be able to say that about me. So I realize that I am in the minority for my age, and I am ok with that. I think my lameness bothers people around me more than it bothers me. I always hear disappointment in my mother's voice when I inform her I did nothing last night and will be doing nothing tonight as well. Sometimes I wish I had a really exciting life and went out all the time and had lots of great stories to tell.

Everyone has their own happiness, each individual finds satisfaction in different things. For some people, happiness comes in the form of alcohol, bars, parties, staying out til 3 and going to class with a hang over so bad you might even still be drunk. That's not my happiness. My happiness is sitting on the couch in sweats watching lifetime, reading gossip magazines, going to bed early, and waking up in time to be awake and prepared for the day. My zumba instructor always gives us a little pep talk at the end of class. Last Thursday, her story was that only you control how you feel, you can't control how other people feel and other people can't control how you feel. If someone is unhappy, it's not your fault. If you are unhappy, it's no one's fault but yours. Your happiness is your choice. Don't worry about what you feel like you should be doing, or what everyone else is doing, do what makes you happy.