Trying too hard?

Sometimes I wonder if I'm trying too hard. The only time this thought really enters my mind is while I'm at school. I'm a perfectionist when it comes to most things, and anything related to my education falls nicely under this category. Maybe because it's something that I've thrown away in the past. Now that I've gotten my final chance to finish my degree, I take it very seriously and hold it close to my heart. My personality defers me from ever being late, to anything, ever. In fact, 90% of the time I arrive to things too early and find myself wasting the extra time that I've created. But I would much rather be early than late, simply because I don't want to be the tardy one. Especially to class. One thing that really gets me confused is how my classmates can walk in the door late, whether it's 5 minutes or 15 minutes. Regardless, the instructor never fails to "wait a few more minutes" for those that are running a little late. Forget the fact that I just booked it to get here 5 minutes prior to the start of class. Or the fact that I skipped lunch and let my missed call go unreturned because I needed to get to class. Yeah, forget that. We'll just sit here and wait for the people that you know are going to be late, because they always are, and they are never punished for it. And the kicker is when these people walk in with a fresh cup of Starbucks in their hand. Really? And it's not only the walking in late thing that gets to me. It's the not showing up at all thing. Sure, I understand, life happens. But really, how often do things really happen that prevent you from being able to come to class. Aren't you concerned about what you're missing? And naturally the professors always work around them, while those of us that are actually attending class and doing well get ridiculed for the littlest things. Someone is paying for this...whether it's your parents, your student loans, or some magical chunk of money. Whatever it may be, you are basically paying for your food and leaving without eating it. Enough said. 

I guess this feeling of trying too hard comes in more places than one. I constantly look around me and see people simply not caring. Nobody seems to care about others' feelings or the impression they are leaving on someone. They don't seem to care about anything. Maybe it's not that they don't care, they simply just don't appreciate. One thing you should know about me is that I cannot stand when people don't appreciate things. I am so thankful for every little piece of my life and I make sure to let everyone know how thankful I am. I appreciate every phone call or message from my family, every card I receive in the mail, and every smile I see from a stranger. I appreciate the small things in life because that's what makes me the happiest. 

In the past few minutes, I've decided that I'm not trying too hard. Other people just aren't trying at all.