So, your exams are over, and it’s winter break. Where before you were stressed out of your mind because you had too much to do and not enough time to do it, now you have the opposite problem: too much time on your hands! What are you to do with it? Well, you ought to balance it between things you need to do and things you want to do, like…
1. Sleep
Come on, nobody gets enough sleep in college. Given all the time you have, and all the benefits of sleep (ranging from living longer to losing weight to getting better grades to a lower risk of depression), why not hit the snooze button?
2. Work Out
Exercise is another thing that tends to fall by the wayside when we have textbooks to read, papers to write, exams to study for, and parties and events to go to. But it will help you lose those pounds you gained over your first semester, and it has a lot of other health--and mood--benefits on top of that. So why not actually use that gym membership?
3. Visit Your High School Friends
You don’t want to just let them fall by the wayside, do you? They were there for you as you went through the smooth and rough times of your teenage years. So tag them, message them, call them, or (better yet) see them in person. There’s something you get from a person really being present that you just can’t get from anything else. That goes for you and them. If you’re really present, you’ll make their day. So go stop by.
4. Stop and Reflect
Our lives as college students are normally filled with nonstop activity. Going off all that inertia, stopping and thinking may be the last thing we want to do, but for the sake of our sanity, we must. If we don’t think about why we’re doing what we’re doing, what we’re living for, then we will inevitably burn out at some point. So stop and reflect: What am I living for? What is getting me out of bed in the morning? What is making me work so hard day in and day out? What do I want, ultimately? What does my life mean? Yes, it’s difficult, since we won’t have the answers immediately. But if we wait and trust, they will come when we least expect them.
5. Do Things Just For Joy
Nonstop work, especially if it seems pointless, will eventually make us burn out. So play a little. I don’t mean going to parties or staring at your phone; I mean doing things with family and friends. Ultimately, we all want happiness, which can’t be bought. It has to be found with those we love who love us. So, now that you have the chance, spend time in their company.
You’ve spent so much time doing things for other people. Let this be your chance to do some things for yourself, to take care of your physical and psychological needs. We’re supposed to love others AS ourselves, not INSTEAD OF ourselves. Once you receive love, let it spill onto others. Seek happiness. Now is the best time to do so.