Have you ever stopped and felt like you are overworked or too busy for anything? I know that I have an inability to say no to people and to activities. I try to do so much, both in my schoolwork by taking as many credit hours that I can take, and in my social life by trying to attend as many events as I can. But at the end of the day, I feel drained or exhausted, and ultimately I tend to wonder if my ambitious personality is keeping me from enjoying the little things each day.

For me personally, I feel like that in the small moments. I tend to be the type of person that doesn’t say no, which means that I often have a lot of things going on all at one time. When all the homework assignments, papers, study guides, club meetings, and other extracurricular activities pile on, it seems like an endless stream of panicking and forgetting about everything I have to do. Once the panic sets in, it feels as though nothing at all could help me get through all the tasks I have to do.

Maybe I do put it on myself, but I just can’t help it. I want to do so much but the result of doing so much is that I feel on edge and worried all the time. There are so many clubs, sorority events, lectures, concerts, shows and just about everything else that I could possibly want to do, but I just can’t because of my high ambitions and inability to say no.

Wanting to do a lot and being ambitious isn’t a bad thing, but I know that it can be a lot of work. It’s very easy to lose sight of what you want or what’s best for you. You cannot forget to take care of yourself and allow yourself to breathe when being ambitious. Don’t overload yourself to the point where you regret what you’re doing every night when you’re in bed. Trust me, I know what that is like and it isn’t a pleasant feeling.

I’ve known so many people, mainly college students and workaholics, who have just reached that breaking point and realized that they didn’t enjoy what they were doing anymore. But once they made that realization, everything changed for them. Having that moment of clarity of knowing you’re doing too much and then making a conscious effort to take a step back and make time for yourself is such an amazing feeling. It’s that moment when you no longer have to stressfully look at your planner or calendar every half hour to make sure you aren’t missing anything. It’s the moment when you don’t have to worry about or decline spontaneous weekend plans that you know you really want to do.

Chase your dreams and do what you want to do, but know that you should enjoy what you are doing. If you don’t enjoy it, then why are you doing it? If you don’t enjoy the life you are living then make the changes you need to in order to keep your happiness as the central concern. You should be living each day through the things that you want to do, not with things that you hate doing.