Prom season stresses me out unlike anything else.

It literally takes over my thoughts and my errands.

The to-do list is endless with picking out a dress, finding shoes, getting accessories, wondering if I’ll get a date, thinking of a place to take pictures, finding a place to go afterward, not to mention the actual dance with tickets and tables.

Once I figured out the dress I would wear, I stressed about shoes, then hair, then nails, then table groups…

I caught myself wondering…if this is so stressful, why in the world does anyone go?

Why spend the money? Why spend time looking for a dress? Why worry about the group I’ll go with?

Because it’s worth the story of whatever night we end up with.

Once I realized this, a lot of my stress went away. (Not all, but a lot.)

Let’s face it. Prom is fun.. more fun than homecoming and more fun than a lot of school-sponsored events.

The girls get to dress up like queens, and we finally get to see the guys wear clothes nicer than t-shirts and shorts. All that trouble of trying on dress after dress really does pay off.

Not to mention food is provided. Booyah.

While it’s stressful finding groups and dates and dresses, the end result pays off. Of course it does.

Prom is an entire night of dancing and hanging out with all of your fabulous friends.

In the end, it doesn’t matter if you have an actual date, the most expensive dress, professionally done hair, unchipped nails or even a perfectly-went-as-planned night.

As a senior, I’m realizing that this may be the last time I’ll get to dress up in a long gown with all of my best friends. It’s my last school dance.

And I’ve been letting the stress of prom overshadow the fun of prom.

One time my friend’s dress literally ripped at prom because of people stepping all over it, but the laughing and dancing made her forget all about it. I mean, she’ll probably never even wear the dress again.

Things will most likely go wrong because there are a lot of opportunities for things to go wrong, but I can’t let the disappointments or even the fear of disappointments ruin my night. And I can’t imagine all the things that will go right.

I’ve decided to let the night write itself, to expect nothing but the unexpected.

I mean really, so what if my dress rips? So what if my makeup smudges? So what if I fall on my face on the dance floor?

I’ve decided to let my stress go by thinking of prom as a story instead of a perfect night.

I’ve decided to focus on the fun of the night as it happens instead of worrying about things that haven’t happened.

And I’ve decided that in whatever ends up written, at least my best friends will be the main characters who can tell the stories with me.

I know I’ll have a story to tell.