There’s a funny scene in Stranger Things where Mike and Dustin argue about whose girlfriend is cooler.
Having just had his computer whiz sweetheart hack into the school’s admin system to turn his D- in Latin to an A, Dustin feels like he has the high ground: “Look, I’m not saying that my girlfriend is better than yours. It’s just that Suzie’s, like, a certified genius.”
Mike’s girlfriend El, on the other hand, is the main hero of the show and, therefore, does all the heavy lifting when it comes to keeping evil demons at bay. “You do realize El saved the world twice, right?”
“And yet you still have a C in Spanish,” Dustin retorts.
There are two lessons in this little tiff among friends. The first is that even if you save the world today, it will keep spinning tomorrow like nothing ever happened. Most people will never know, and you’ll still have to go to third period math. Sorry! No first class seats in this life.
The second is that you can never do everything, and, therefore, you don’t have to do it all in a day — whatever important goals “all” might contain for you. Mike was busy helping his girlfriend save the world. As a result, he didn’t have time for Spanish. So what? He can get a better grade next year!
Whether you’re the kind of person who wants to save the world, help someone else do it, or merely build a nice little life for yourself and your family, remember: Be it world-saving or building a tool shed, you don’t have to do it all in a day — and even if you could, tomorrow would still be another one.
It’s okay to have a C in Spanish.