Here's the thing: Balance is hard. I am still figuring this one out. Within the rush of jobs and classes and hobbies and extracurriculars, it is hard to find the time for yourself. Then, on top of all of those things, you probably have important relationships in your life. A few close friends, maybe a significant other, plus everyone else. It becomes so easy to completely lose yourself...

Someone I once knew would always tell me, "Don't Lose Yourself" and I got so offended, annoyed, irritated because-- c'mon, look at me, clearly I have this all figured out, stop giving me pieces of warning. I. Have. Got. This. (insert heavily sarcastic drawl.) Looking back now, after stockpiling my summer with work and travel and events and school and relationships, I have come into this semester utterly exhausted. I didn't quite lose myself, but perhaps, maybe, partially misplaced?
And I just don't think that I am alone in any of this.

Let us not forget that although there are 10,000 things to do and take care of, you still need to look after yourself first. You do yourself no favors by forgetting to take care of what you love to do. I can personally attest that I am worse off, for everyone and everything, when I fail to look after myself first, because-- let's be real-- no one else is going to do that for me, except for me. No one knows how to love me or make me happy or do the things I like, quite like I do.

Make time for reading, sports, and outdoor activities; make time to do all of the things which actually make you happy, relaxed, and feel like yourself. It will be so much easier to conquer everything you need to do if you are in a happy state-of-mind. Let's not lose ourselves in this mess of a life, in this attempt to balance all 10,000 things, and forget to look after ourselves. Let's try to take care of ourselves first, so that we can better take care of everything and everyone else.

Balance will come, you will learn how to better yourself, and the rest will fall into place.