Life is stressful. Like, incredibly stressful. Things happen all the time, an abundance of schoolwork, health issues, lack of sleep, early work hours, etc. etc. Things never seem to slow down. The things that change are the physical activity I am doing. Since January, I have been working hard between two jobs, four classes, some personal health and family health issues, a new relationship, reading, writing, and trying to get enough sleep each night. I'm exhausted by this point.

Now, this is a good type of exhaustion. I feel productive and I'm happy with all the progress that has been made, especially with my Percussion students. But nonetheless, things are a bit stressful. It's natural, really, to be stressed from time to time. But what I feel makes a huge difference is how we each deal with our stress. There are a bunch of different techniques that can alleviate stress, but sometimes these small methods are not enough.

So, what's the solution? Take a "Mental Health" day. Now, I don't want to haphazardly use the term mental health, but what I ultimately mean is to just take a day to yourself. Life will not be upended if you just take one personal day to yourself. Take one day to sleep in, eat something different, and ultimately just relax. Let the small things go and just have a good, slow day.

We all need these days from time to time. Of course, don't let this be your constant escape route with stress. These moments should be very rare and used when all other methods have not been enough. I have never taken a Mental Health day before yesterday, and I struggled with making that decision. But I don't regret it at all, because I was able to refocus and I am not nearly as stressed as I was a few days ago.

SO if you ever feel like life is becoming a bit too much, and you have tried other ways of relieving stress, go ahead and take the day off. Life is too short to consistently be suppressed by stress. So go take care of yourself, because you're doing nothing to help others if you aren't helping yourself.