When you have a lot of anxiety, breaks from school are not always the best time for you. Yes, it is nice to relax, but there is always going to be a little voice in the back of your head reminding you that it is going to end. Eventually, you will have to go back and be stressed by school and work all over again. That worry in itself is enough to eat you up for your entire break. Now that school is closer than ever before, that anxiety is like no other.
To a certain degree, it is natural to feel this way, and whether they all want to admit it or not, I believe that everyone feels this way. New beginnings and the idea of stressful situations make people anxious. It is absolutely okay to feel this way. But that does not mean that anyone deserves to. If anxiety is something that you believe is affecting your life, please get help. There is no shame in it whatsoever, and if you truly want help, it will benefit you. But for a situational anxiety like this, there are solutions.
Although it can be a little cliche to say, I truly do believe that if you have a positive outlook, you won't be as anxious. No matter how stressful last semester or last year was for you, you can still have a complete turnaround and have the best semester yet. There's just really no way to tell.
Sometimes it's just the fact that you don't know how everything will turn out that makes everything feel worse. But there can be comfort in not knowing! Honestly, that's one of the hardest things for me to recognize, but when you don't plan things and you don't know how they'll go, you can actually relax a little more than usual. You aren't worried if everything is going to plan or the way you want it to, because you can recognize that everything is happening the way that it is meant to happen.
There's a lot of personal strength that goes into controlling your anxiety and recognizing that some of your own thoughts are just plain irrational. But it can be done, and with time you'll realize that some of your thoughts aren't even bad anymore. I'm not a person who really believes in New Year's resolutions (see my last article), but on the brink of moments like this, it can be good to start new habits.
Find the strength to fight against your own irrational thoughts or seek the help you need in this new year and new semester. It's not an easy fight by any means, but it is the most worthwhile battle you'll ever be in. School is hard, life is hard and they're even harder when you live a life consumed by worry. Try something new this semester and don't let your anxiety come with you this time.
