Nine days into the new year, and I'm already swamped with work. If I wrote the previous statement just last week, it should be read in a dead, complaining voice. But as I'm writing it now, excitement fills me.
Just seven days ago I remember my cheeks being damp from the overwhelming expectations that came with this particular semester. Just seven days ago I was on the verge of letting it all go, meeting the most minimal of requirements and craving for a way to quit. And heck, it was only the second day of 2017.
Hustling culture is very real now, in this age of idealistic millennials. Bombarded with messages on facing the grind, on working for your goals, and on visualizing your wanderlust has filled the social media as my peers started to enter university while older friends began to arrive in the workforce. It's all good and inspiring when you're in the get-up-and-go mood, but hustling culture punches you real hard when you're just... not feeling up to it.
It's superficial, I feel. It's all goals and tasks and wins and money and success and dreams. It's so easy to lose sight of what's important, especially as a person who follows Christ. Hustling culture sugarcoats itself in the wonders of working hard for what you want. It presents itself as a solid, foundational purpose on which youths can base their lives on, because it's a win-win situation for everybody. Working hard pleases your boss, gets you a raise, makes your parents proud, and ideally gets you to where you want to be. Friends are envious, siblings beg for your help and seniors praise you for your hustle. It's inspiring and exciting, until you realise that the novelty of achieving a goal satisfies only one person: yourself. Being self-centred is a dangerous (and very likely) problem when hustling.
When you hustle, are you taking time to rest intentionally? When you hustle, are you hustling so that your parents can retire comfortably? When you hustle, did you use your life to appreciate the huge bulk of fees your parents paid for you to study in the UK? When you hustle, did you make sure you are celebrating your friends' successes genuinely? And for my brothers and sisters in Christ, are you hustling with God by your side? Has hustling become more important than the One who saved you?
My first paragraph mentions my excitement. I am excited because having stuff to do is good. Having projects to work on and assignments to complete is good. But above all, I love the fact that it is now more than ever that I feel the genuine concern and love from those around me. It is now more than ever that I'm placing my trust in the One who blessed me with opportunities to study, to serve and to impact society. It is now more than ever that I'm learning to hustle, in a way that pleases my Father.