I feel like I am the last person on the face of the Earth that should be offering advice about stress, but here I am, ready to be a hypocrite and try to forcibly make myself listen to my own advice.
The breaking point. Have you hit it yet? Because I definitely have a million times over by this point in my life. Psychology tells us that everyone on the face of this Earth has a breaking point. Unfortunately, there is no way around it. You are dealt the sh*t you are dealt and that is the way it works.
Luckily, the breaking point is exactly that: a point. It is a just a point at any given point in your life where your circumstances outweigh what you are physically and emotionally stable enough to handle, and the breaking point can happen at any time, sometimes without you even realizing that you are at the marker for a complete breakdown. The breaking point strikes when you least expect it. One minute you are content and somewhat managing the stressful events in your life with as much grace as possible, and the next you are yelling at the Chick-fil-a worker about their lack of competency only to curse and storm out of the restaurant to cry hysterically in your car for having no barbeque sauce to dip your nuggets. PSA: If you haven't reached a low like this, just wait. You will reach yours, I promise. Our breaking points make us unrecognizable to ourselves. We behave in manors unsuitable for the grown up world we are trying to live in, and we pout like sullen children. Here is the thing though, and listen to me very carefully because I am about to cliche the shit out of you.
It gets better.
GASP! I know, I said the line everyone hates to hear, but honestly? It is the truth. What you are going through right at this moment that has made you hit, maybe the first or maybe the 100th, breaking point in your life will more than likely not even matter to you a year from now. You will not always be going through such a rough patch. You failed a test? Do better on the next one. You lost a scholarship? Apply for more. Take out another loan. Raise your grade to earn it back. You are in debt? Start paying it off, it will be gone before you know it. As previously stated, a breaking point is only a point and it is a point that you will get passed. Yu are entitled to turning things around and watching your life improve in the process.
It is ok not to be ok.
I will repeat it again, it is okay not to be okay. Binge watching Netflix, while eating ice cream and uncontrollably snotting is actually a good sign that you are handling your stressful situation well. You don't have to be the strong one all the time. Experience the breaking point. Learn from the factors that caused you to hit that breaking point, and once you are done morning the loss of your sanity, get up and go reach another breaking point, but know this time that you can handle any breaking that comes your way(after a gallon of fro-yo and several boxes of tissues though).
It is totally, 100% worth it.
Reaching a breaking point in life is actually a wonderful thing. It teaches you what you are really made of and who you are as a person, not what you put on to everyone else. During a breaking point, people become their true selves (minus the crying about barbeque sauce, that was a little irrational). Without adversity, this life would be a boring, cookie cutter mold. Who wants their life to be perfect? If you ask me, I prefer excitement, even if it does make me lose my head every now and again. When you get through a breaking point, you will feel on top of the world. There is nothing like it, knowing you can get through anything.
Look at it this way, you are glass. Glass has to be heated up and melted, which is essentially its breaking point. It has to be pushed passed its breaking point because without a little fire, you would never get the beautiful work of a finished masterpiece in the end. Without bending and breaking elements, you are doomed to stay in the same shape forever, and that my friends, is absolutely terrifing. You need a little break every now and then to remind you that you are just human, but despite being able to be so easily broken, you are capable of marvelous things.
As for me? I welcome the fire, it only adds fuel to my soul and one day the breaking points will turn me into a beautiful work of art with a wonderful story to tell, as will yours.
