When we think about it, college is really just a whirlwind of new experiences, mistakes and lessons packed into four years. The amount of new things we learn everyday can be daunting and overwhelming.
We are told when we go to college that this is our time. Our time to discover what we want to do for the rest of our lives. Our time to fall in love. Our time to make life-long friendships.
But what about falling in love and making friends with ourselves? Self-care is something that is so vital to our wellbeing yet we are never really taught how to do it.
From an early age we learn that we should always put ourselves first, listen to our bodies and respect ourselves. We are taught physical care all through elementary and middle school with small lessons about the basics of mental health mixed in. We are never really taught how to love ourselves.
The most important relationship we can ever have is with ourselves. We are always going to be there, pushing and fighting to put our own needs first. It is difficult to have healthy and long-lasting relationships with others when we can’t be confident in our own decisions and needs.
One of the most important and easy ways to engage in self-care is by taking care of our bodies. Making sure we stay active and eat right will not only make us feel better physically but mentally as well. Taking good care of our bodies makes us more confident and ultimately happier.
When we exercise, not only are we making ourselves stronger but we are also releasing endorphins that make us feel good. Exercising regularly helps us to feel good all the time. Even if we are not trying to lose weight or do not have a body goal, exercising helps to stay focused and maintain the body that we have.
Eating right is important as well. Food is fuel to keep our bodies going. When we put bad food into our bodies we are giving ourselves bad fuel making it harder to do daily tasks. When we eat junk food we will find ourselves getting tired more easily and feeling sluggish.
In addition to feeling sluggish and unhappy, we all have those moments where we realize we are doing things that make us unhappy. Its never fun to have those realizations yet we constantly find ourselves feeling this way.
Trying to let go of the negativity in our lives is not easy but it will help to improve the way we think about our lives and ourselves. This may include distancing ourselves from negative people or activities that we do not enjoy.
Make it a goal to only do things if they will make you happy. It is easy to get stuck in the habit of doing things because we think it is right and what other people want us to do. After a while we tend to get bored and unhappy. Instead of trying to fix the problem we end up blaming ourselves or others and it never ends up well.
Take time for yourself. In college we are constantly surrounded by other people; whether it’s our roommates, teammates, partners or the 40,000 other people on this campus it can be difficult to find time to be alone.
Make sure to a lot some “me time” in order to de-stress and reflect on your day or week. Being in touch with ourselves will make us more driven and focused on reaching our personal goals.
Having a positive relationship with ourselves is something that is important to learn while in college. Loving ourselves is a vital part of becoming our own person, which is what college is all about. Learning self-care is one lesson that is guaranteed to help us for the rest of our lives.