I am tired. In fact, utterly exhausted.

As the year winds down, the weather is getting colder, projects are stacking up, and finals are looming around the corner. I am utterly tired. I'm sure others are feeling this way, too, so this is just to tell you that you aren't alone.

I'm tired. I'm tired of going to the same classes and I'm excited to start the next semester. I'm tired of eating frozen food everyday and just want my mom to cook me something. I'm tired of waking up early. I'm tired of studying and spending hours daily doing homework. Not to say I don't love my life, my college, and my studies, but I am just in need of a break. I feel as though I am in a perpetual state of exhaustion and nothing is solving the problem. Nothing, that is, that I have diligently been practicing until now.

If you're feeling like me, what can we do? I think a big thing that we can do is practice healthy self care. Whether that be taking a shower, reading a book, or going out to dinner with friends, you need to practice self-care.

Sometimes it's hard to practice self care. If you're like me, you are constantly running on nervous energy. Always fidgeting, you feel as though if you aren't doing something then you aren't being productive, therefore wasting the whole day. This past week in particular, I have constantly been pacing, walking around back and fourth between the kitchen, living room, and my bedroom. My cheeks look like raisins, constantly being bitten.

Someone told me a perfect analogy that sums up how we all feel around this time of year. You see, pretend that when you wake up in the morning you are a bucket of water that is full. When you go to class, maybe that scoops out a little bit of water, but if you study or take a test, that may be a lot of water taken out. By the end of the day, you're bucket is empty. Self care is putting the water back in the bucket. If you aren't putting water back into the bucket but keep taking, then you are trying to take water out of thin air.

I think this is a good analogy to describe how important self care is. Some of us may feel guilty for practicing self care, may feel as though we don't have time, or overall don't understand the importance of it. If we aren't putting water back into our buckets, then we are draining ourselves dry until we are prunes.