I spend a lot of time thinking.

It's a way to check in with myself, my thoughts, my feelings. It wasn't until I came home, breaking out of my college bubble, that I had people who told me that I always seem to be in a state of stress. Whether it be tied to academics, social life, work, or finding a balance between them all, I become easily overwhelmed.

Being someone who's an overthinker naturally leads to a lot of self-reflection whenever the end of another year comes around. It’s another milestone, another step, towards the end of my college career and a reminder that I'm darting towards some sort of unsure future for myself.

Nostalgia is defined as a wistful longing for some sort of past memory or moment associated with a sense of happiness. It can be tied to really anything in the past whether that be a person, a place, or a thing. But the key point is that it's usually unattainable or irrevocable — because it's in the past.

Sometimes it's harmful when you break out of the nostalgia and get caught up in the moments, things, or people that used to be tied to happiness. Now, perhaps, those things evoke feelings of regret or sadness at the memory of their loss. It's easy to get tangled in a web of 'what-ifs' with the past and conjure up all sorts of scenarios out of touch with what is already a reality.

I spend a lot of time turning my head into the past out of a fear of that uncertain future I mentioned earlier. And I don't think this mindset, this pattern, is all that uncommon. A lot of people struggle with it to some degree - young or old, wise or not.

The way you can turn this into a beneficial reflection is by tweaking how you frame the past. It's good to look back on yourself and your decisions and your experiences because it allows you to learn and grow — from them and within yourself.

But that only comes as a result of knowing you're growing up and out of the past, instead of letting it hold you back and lingering on what you can't change. Instead, in my experience, it helps to use a lens of appreciation for those moments and what they may have given you at that time.

Maybe I'm a bit dramatic. But if you can identify these feelings within yourself, it makes you that much more of a person for being able to build a sense of self-awareness and trying to change how you frame your mindset in regard to the past, and subsequently the present. You don't want to miss out on what's right in front of you, and that’s something I have to remind myself every now and then.