Many of us find ourselves struggling to stay afloat in the balancing act known as post-secondary education. Finding the fine line between working hard and playing hard whilst maintaining our sanity and focusing on the future ahead is a dark path we all know far too well.
The stressors of university present themselves with a smack in the face more times than one can count; yet each and every time we’re left in the centre of the “pick two triangle” that narrows down our options before we even have a chance to choose. Maintaining a healthy social life, alongside good grades and an active lifestyle seems too good to be true, and we often believe we can only select two to fit on our already piled-high plates. I wish I could tell you that it’s simple to maintain a healthy schedule equipped with satisfying portions of all three with a bit of list-making and time management skills; but it involves far more than that. It will be challenging and stressful, but they say practice makes perfect; and as good habits form routine, soon enough you won’t have to sacrifice an option in order to just get by with the other two.
I used to always feel sorry for myself, thinking that I couldn’t manage to perfect each and every aspect of my life and have it all. When I began university two years ago, I was thrust into adulthood and an entirely alien routine that seemed to become more difficult to grasp the more I stressed over it. I had always been particularly seamless at managing my time and scheduling my life around the different focuses; however, come university I was being thrown curve balls left, right and centre so fast that I believed I had lost touch.
Sure, the transition is exciting and challenging for everyone else, and I did manage to eventually adjust, but the road to fully reaching all three corners of the triangle was not easy, and is surely not over yet. The only difference between now and then is that in the past I saw juggling my social life, my academic responsibilities, and keeping with a fitness routine as an overwhelming gulp; whereas now I evaluate the importance of each and use that as motivation to spend my time in each area as best as I can.
Doing well in school was never an issue for me, and my social calendar remained full for most of the year, however the health and fitness portion was one that I struggled with for as long as I can remember. I was a competitive dancer for thirteen years before quitting to focus on my academics mid-high school, so I was always used to being active. When my path strayed in a different direction, keeping up with fitness became such a burden that I would let the fear of not having time to workout consume my every thought.
The juggling act beat me at its own game, and I allowed the corner I could not seem to fulfill taunt me for a long time. I put so much pressure on myself that the guilt of not devoting enough time to exercise finally put me in my place. All the time I spent dwelling on the “lack” of time I seemed to so severely suffer from could have been spent seeking encouragement and advice; which is what I eventually (and thankfully) did. I reached out to others I looked up to that promoted healthy routines amongst busy lifestyles and began to take bits and pieces from different area of expertise, and eventually established a plan that worked for me.
Staying healthy and active throughout busy times of your life is not all about laying out a month’s worth of food in pretty containers, waking up at 4am every morning to hit the treadmill, or spending 1/3 of your month’s rent on some instagram-promoted teatox that promises to shed the pounds. Health and fitness is a lot more transparent than the industry makes it up to be. With simple steps such as time management, not being afraid to seek help, a change in mindset, and, most importantly, whatever aspects work best for you personally, fulfilling the triangle without settling for less is a goal a lot easier and rewarding to accomplish than perceived.