{"id":87128,"date":"2018-05-10T17:44:08","date_gmt":"2018-05-10T15:44:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/?p=87128"},"modified":"2025-12-19T11:22:59","modified_gmt":"2025-12-19T10:22:59","slug":"zin-maken","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.erasmusmagazine.nl\/en\/2018\/05\/10\/zin-maken\/","title":{"rendered":"Finding motivation"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\u201cWell, find some motivation then,\u201d my mother used to say as I complained about having a tummy ache in an attempt to avoid spending another whole day at school. Years later, I discovered that finding motivation actually seems to be life\u2019s goal. At least, it is when you\u2019re a student and the potential to create your own future seems to be endless.<\/p>\n

If you want to find motivation, Erasmus University is certainly the place to be. Every week you will find one or other student association or faculty in C hall or at the top of the escalators in T building, armed with motivational texts, awaiting students who need some motivation. Once I\u2019ve managed to avoid the stands on my way to the coffee bar, I find more printed texts on my coffee cup: \u2018Be the change\u2019, \u2018create your own success\u2019. I only want a coffee, but I get free motivational advice at the same time.<\/p>\n\n\t

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\n\t\tAs a student, there seems to be no avoiding the competition \u2018who can devise the best future\u2019\n\t<\/blockquote>\n\n\t<\/figure>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n

The call to give meaning to my life recently came slightly closer to home when I opened a book that had remained untouched on my bookshelf for the past five years. Perhaps it was a sign from above that this book \u2013 appropriately enough Conversations with God: an uncommon dialogue <\/em>\u2013 suddenly caught my eye. The author, Neale Donald Walsch, claims that he has had a conversation with God. Not the God of a certain religion, but a God who impresses on us the following golden rule: he wants us all to be the creators of our own reality. I liked this rule, but it also put more pressure on me to give my life more meaning.<\/p>\n

As a student, there seems to be no avoiding the competition \u2018who can devise the best future\u2019. But despite the pressure to create a meaningful life before it\u2019s too late, I try to keep a cool head. And even though I find all those English texts slightly over the top, I try to see the positive side and remember what God says to Walsch in the book: bless everything that crosses your path, even if it wasn\u2019t your choice. So I think: \u2018Drinking coffee out of a plain cup is actually quite boring.\u2019<\/p>\n

Marnix \u2018t Hart studies Philosophy at the EUR<\/em><\/p>\n\n\t

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De redactie<\/h2>\n\t\t\n\t\t
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