Do you ever find yourself exhausted with the craziness of life? Your answer is most likely yes. Well, let me inform you that you are not alone!
Reflecting on my life, there always seems to be something to do, learn, or be involved with. In both my home community and my St. Norbert community, I had and do have many opportunities presented to myself that I was and am intrigued by. Therefore, because of my ambitious nature, I most often become involved. My interest areas include school, work, extracurriculars, sports, and volunteering. Additionally, developing deeper relationships with my family and my friends is a personal priority. Each of those areas have varying commitments, and there is so much I want to do with each commitment. But, there is not enough time! If only there were 25 or 26 hours in a day instead of 24!
Despite recognizing the limited time that I have, I unintentionally but yet intentionally continue to dedicate myself to various involvements anyways. Additionally, I expect myself to be passionately dedicated to what I am involved within. Therefore, despite enjoying what I am doing, I often feel overwhelmed and in need of rest. Physical and mental exhaustion is real, and being in that state is not ideal. Why do I continue to take on so much? That is a good question. Since the beginning of high school, I have been an active individual within my community, and the earnest work ethic I established in high school has followed me into college
In high school I was not only a student, I was a student taking AP and Honors courses as well as classes through the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh and Fox Valley Technical College. Additionally, I was involved in the following:
- Work
- Assistant teacher at a day care
- Night manager at a grocery store
- Community Service
- Key Club – through the high school
- National Honor Society – through the high school
- Sunday School Teacher and small group leader – at my church
- Student Leadership Team for Youth Ministries – I developed this team and was a main student leader
- Sports
- Dance
- Track – freshman and sophomore year
- Soccer – junior and senior year
Maybe some of you are involved in a lot more than this. If you are, way to go! But, this was enough if not too much for me. Granted, each involvement was broken up throughout the year and had varying levels of commitments, but, they were still time consuming and demanding in their own ways. I do not say that negatively either for I did very much enjoy each area, my involvements and school coursework just made me tired and stressed. Now, I am in college and just as involved. My courses are challenging, as expected, and I have multiple jobs. Additionally, I am involved in clubs, community service, and establishing new relationships with my peers around me. I am still experiencing physical and mental exhaustion!
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My grandma frequently says to me, “Britney, make sure you are taking time to smell the roses”, and she is right. She first began saying this to me in high school. When we would spend time together, she would recognize how tired I was and tell me I was involved in too much. But, I enjoyed what I was doing. Yes, I may have been tired, but I was having fun for the most part.
Now that I am in college, I recognize the importance of “taking time to smell the roses”. Time goes too quickly, and being in a tired mental and physical state is not healthy. Just a few weeks ago, Sundays were the day that I would have mental breakdowns after planning out my week and looking at what I needed to get accomplished by Friday. It was too much for me. So, I forced myself to slow down. I reevaluated my schedule to see what I could excuse myself from or what I could take a break from for a little while. After doing so, I have been more lively, happy, and productive. I have also even had time to sit down and watch a movie with my friends!
I am sharing this because it has been a long journey to allow myself to accept the reality that I was too involved, and if you are feeling the same way I encourage you to slow down too. My grandma’s words not only apply to me, but they apply to you as well: take time to smell the roses.
Photo credit to https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2015/03/26/09/41/roses-690085__340.jpg
