No Matter How Busy, You Come First

Well friends it has been a wild week to say the least. Although this week was tough, and not necessarily my favorite (lol) I learned a lot and I want to share it here. 

My blog is all about wellness, authenticity, knowing what you need, and understanding the tools available to alleviate stress. This past week and even before that, I was not taking my own advice. I was ignoring the signs of fatigue and pushing through. It can be good to push through the hard times to get to the other side, but there is a fine line between when the pushing through is healthy and when it becomes toxic. 

I didn’t make time to meditate, journal, relax, or even have a shower that was more than 5 minutes long (yeah, not cute I know). I was making everything an emergency, a fire drill. I was rushing through life, thinking about the next task as I was in the middle of another. My brain became overwhelmed and filled with plans and thoughts of the future. I didn’t stop or slow down for anything. With my course load and tutoring schedule as well as working out, cooking, extracurriculars, and all the various other tasks on my plate, I finally broke. 

This isn’t the first time I have ignored the signs I know I shouldn’t ignore to appease the pace of the Western world. I saw what others were doing and thought I should be doing more and used productivity as a sign of success. The pace I was traveling at was too fast for anyone to sustain. Thursday night I broke like I haven’t in a while. I felt like every aspect of my life was collapsing: social, personal, academic. News flash… that wasn’t happening in the slightest, my irrational side took over and clouded my judgement. The spiral of doom is all too familiar. The world feels like it is coming down on us, but in reality we just need to slow down and make time to take care of ourselves.

When we don’t take care of ourselves our bodies breakdown and all the stress they have been going through begins to show. The time we don’t make for ourselves will be made for us. 

Our body and brain do so much for us. They are constantly working, and they need a break. We have to cherish them and give back to them. 

Don’t just do things to do things. Enjoy them and be present in them. Make things fun!! I realized that my workouts have become a drag. I look back at photos of me during or after workouts smiling ear to ear and I miss that. My focus is now on having fun not just having the hardest workout. We can’t enjoy everything we do, but we can enjoy a lot of things we do. 

My new goal is to be more mindful and enjoy the little things. I want to find joy in each aspect of my life and slow down. I’m too busy speeding through my life I haven’t been able to enjoy it. I have been planning so much my brain could no longer stand it. I am going to work on not only just being in the moment, but going with the flow. Everything will get done. We have all made it through before, and we will do it again. It isn’t helping anyone when we think a million steps ahead and become burdened by stress. Don’t use your energy to worry. Use your energy to create and inspire. Use it to have fun and be joyful. 

Taking care of yourself by doing the things you know you need to do is the number one priority. Make it the top of the “to-do” list. Make self-care just as important as getting your homework done or studying for a test. You won’t be at your best if you don’t take care of your body and brain. Treat yourself with kindness. Talk to yourself nicely. No one will cheer for you and believe in you if you don’t do that for yourself, and it won’t matter unless you want to take care of yourself. Just as you want success and productivity, you have to want peace and contentment. You are in charge of making the time and taking the steps to take yourself to a place of comfort. 

I’m learning to not just focus on taking care of myself when things get hard, but to do so along the way so I don’t get to the point of a monumental breakdown. Pushing through is all fun and games until you have continually pushed through so much that the pressure and anxiety just builds and builds. I think of it as a sort of battery that starts fully charged and continues to deplete with more stress. The only way to refill the battery is through your stress relievers: meditation, rest, social time, working out, etc. 

I notice I also feel so much better when I remind myself of what I’m proud of and what I’m grateful for. Keep the good things at the forefront of your mind. I love you all and I hope you all spend time taking care of yourself each day and each week.