For me, it has never been a question that maybe I say "Yes," to too many things. Because I definitely do. But, I do so much better in school, relationships, and life in general when I'm busy. Ask anyone who's heard about my daily schedule during the past few years of high school and college, and they'll generally respond with "Sam? Yeah, she does everything." But, for me, staying busy is part of what helps me stay on track.
Not everyone is built to be a constant multitasker. Most people struggle when they don't have enough downtime. However, I struggle when I do have free time. I need structure of daily events, workouts, clubs, classes and even scheduled homework time to maintain my sanity.
Within the past two years, I've broken both of my arms; what I've learned the most from it is that, when I can't fill my days with things I love to do and stuff I'm working on, I tend to get behind on work, feel tired and find that my grades begin to suffer. Meanwhile, back in the day, when I was ski jumping every day and competing every weekend all across the Midwest, I earned some of the highest grades in my entire seventh-grade class. My test scores were through the roof! That's not exactly normal, given that I had less time to study.
Now, in college, I find I'm working on so many projects at once from Kappa Kappa Psi to Air Force ROTC to school and even a running team; needless to say, I'm constantly busy. I'm out of the house before 6 a.m. and return well after 8 p.m. But, I'm thriving. My grades are awesome (granted, it's only the beginning of the semester), my happiness levels are high and I feel energized. While that doesn't mean the day won't drag me down every now and again, for the most part, I feel whole as a person.
Staying busy keeps me on track with everything. It forces me to be organized, to plan ahead and to be smart about what I commit to. And, while maybe I shouldn't need external drives to do that for me, it certainly helps. The thing I hear the most that is relatively negative is, "Sam, don't spread yourself too thin." And, I can't agree more. While it's important for me to keep myself busy and focused on goals, I need a balance to keep everything in check. So, if you're like me, maybe that's something to keep in mind especially as the semester goes on and takes its toll on everyone; do what's right for you.
If there's one positive to staying busy, it's being able to see how much good everyone in the world can do alone and together; things I do every day make me realize that. I ran a team marathon last spring with four other amazing individuals, I march with 329 of the most amazing musicians and humans on the planet and I train with close to 100 of the worlds finest leaders in ROTC. From all of this, even what I do daily by myself, when other people are working hard alongside you, it creates amazing things and brings about positive change.
Whatever level of busy you find works for you, do it whole-heartedly. Don't spread yourself too thin. And, embrace your need to stay involved with other activities to make yourself feel whole and valuable. We're all human, we're all different; don't let anyone tell you your need to stay busy makes you weird. You're amazing just being you.
