We’ve all been there — we think our world is over after a breakup, a failed test, or not being invited to that party. In reality, however, it’s not as detrimental as it seems. 

Teenagers tend to fall victim to the imaginary audience effect in psychology, which is the false belief that you are under constant, close observation from peers, family, and strangers. This can cause little issues to be blown way out of proportion when individuals are more concerned about how others will view their “failures”, as opposed to logically thinking about the situation.

Don’t get me wrong, high school drama is very real, and it can be very emotional, too. We all deal with the same typical, petty issues— friends and boyfriends clashing, false rumors, and your classic high school “mean girl.” But at the end of the day, these problems will only affect us for a short period of time.

If you’re upset about not having the best friends, just remember that you will have a fresh start to find your people in college, and you won’t see the majority of students at school ever again. And one bad grade doesn’t mean you won’t get into college, either. If it won’t matter in five years, then you shouldn’t stress about it for over 5 minutes.

We are only in high school for four years, and this is the time when we make memories that we will remember the rest of our lives. At the end of the day, you’re going to remember the good moments, not the time you cried over how stressed you were about pointless problems.

Why focus on all of the trivial complications or bad days when we could be enjoying the happy ones?