I recently had to make a huge decision for my own mental health; I had to leave one of my writing outlets so I didn't keep stretching myself too thin. As I sat on the couch, musing over defeat and how weak I was, I was reminded by my family of how incredibly strong I am for not only making these decisions but for realizing that I cannot handle so much.

Society values multitasking. We want someone to be a jack-of-all-trades. Sometimes the person has their predominant focus (which is school for me) and then multiple side projects. We want our citizens to be busy and valuable.

The problem with these expectations is that it leads to exactly what I just went through. I sat on the couch and mulled over what had to go. While I was thinking I was weak for defeat, I was looking at a situation all wrong.

You are not wrong for admitting that you have too much on your plate. You're not defeated when you make more room for obligations and hobbies that you could be better at.

It takes a massive amount of strength for a person to realize that they are spread too thin. It took me weeks before I realized that yes, I was running into a situation I couldn't handle. Yes, I was at a point where I couldn't give my all to everything because so much was demanding a slice of it.

I'm not a person who can do something halfway. If I can't do it properly, I don't want to do it at all. The idea of blowing something off or not giving it every fiber of what I have is absolutely mind-blogging to me. Why do something if you're not willing to do it all the way?

Strength is understanding that you are one whole person with one whole attention span. I don't care what attention-deficit problem you have or how distracted you get, you still have your attention span. Our attention span is not meant to work continuously. It needs a break.

Needing a break, a reprieve or a hiatus is not defeat. It's a win for you because you're taking control of your needs and capabilities. Everything you do needs to grab your attention. If you can't do it to your specifications, you're defeated. Simply admitting you might be too loaded is a positive life action that we all need to do more.