Guess what? I’m already proud of you, you took the time out of your busy day to read this. Now give yourself permission to take more breaks, breaks that involve putting yourself first.
As a student in my senior year of college it took me four years to understand that, it is OKAY to not do it all. College is one of the most overwhelming times for so many reasons. We are expected to juggle a job, good grades, relationships, a healthy lifestyle, the list could go on and on. Honestly as I sit here and write,I can feel myself beginning to become overwhelmed knowing that I have not successfully accomplished this perfect balance and that is OKAY.
I think one of the hardest parts of college for me has been the constant comparison I struggle with when it comes to productivity. I am in a constant battle in my head of feeling like I am never doing enough. College is an environment where it feels as if everyone around me is always doing more. Someone always has a better internship, gets paid more money, has a more consistent workout routine, the perfect friend group, the dreamiest relationship, and is up to date with all the latest fashion trends. It also doesn’t help that the upcoming prospect of potentially going to grad school makes you think about how to make yourself more competitive than the other applicants. But as someone who has tried to juggle it all, the jobs, volunteering, clubs, perfect friends, the best partner. I am here to tell you that you will still feel like you are not doing nearly enough and only be left feeling an unhealthy level of exhaustion.
Our society glamorizes this image of the woman who does it all. We perpetuate the false narrative that the more productive you are the more worthy you are, and the better you will feel about yourself. This idea that there is always more you can accomplish and that there are no limits to what you can accomplish can be an inspiring mindset,at times, but it can also be incredibly harmful. It leaves out the part of the story where you are so burnt out trying to do everything and be everything for everyone that you forget to take care of yourself. You are then left with nothing left to give and are completely empty. The glamorizing media fails to cover the exhaustion felt by the girl who packs every hour of every day full with trying to do it all.
Just last week I was having my inevitable meltdown of the quarter, ugly Kim Kardashian tears and all, in the car causing me to miss half of my class. Ironically I was crying over being stressed about that class in the first place. I remember feeling like if I had one more thing on my plate I would completely crumble and need to drop out of college immediately. I hate that I ever allowed myself to get to that point,yet somehow ended up there every quarter. It wasn’t until I acknowledged all that I have on my plate and allowed myself to take a break from it all that I was able to calm down and remember that I am more than my productivity. If all of our accomplishments were taken away and we were only left with who we are as human beings would we be proud? That is a question I have frequently been asking myself to help reshift my mindset about feeling like I need to do it all.
I guess what I am trying to say is that I just want to remind you that your worth is not found in your productivity. If your biggest accomplishment today was getting out of bed, putting on sweats and walking to class, that is a victory that deserves to be celebrated. Let’s glamorize taking a break, investing time in ourselves and acknowledging that it is cool to not do it all.