Throughout my life, I have always worked to please everyone but there has been one person that hasn’t been pleased. Me. The first semester of this past year I focused more on making sure everyone else was happy and would ultimately lose the important points I needed to work on. There was one day where I seemed to make so many people close to me upset because I was choosing to focus on me and nobody else. There are times where I don’t leave room for myself because I try to please everyone whether it is my friends or people I want to be friends with. Always make sure to leave time for yourself or you will run yourself ragged.

When people ask me what one of my qualities is, I like to say dependable or reliable, meaning I will be there for you when you need me. But there’s a difference in dependability and being taken advantage of. It has taken some years for me to realize that some of my friendships have been people using me and it still hurts to think of it like that. I have met people who have asked me for stuff one or two times in which I have helped them but sometimes I will drop everything to help.

Looking back at it now I understand that should not always be the case.

In the movie “13 Going On 13,” Jennifer Garner’s character wants to be popular and to become friends with the popular clique. She does a project for them and the girls end up ruining her party. While this has never happened to me I can understand the taking advantage part of the nice person part of the movie.

In life, I have always wanted to impress people and whether it's by being someone I’m not or just saying I can help out that is never the way to become friends with someone.

I always give people second chances just because I know I have needed times for second chances but sometimes I wonder if it is all worth it. When I was 17 I asked a girl to prom and was convinced that she was going to say yes that I didn’t ask anyone else. To make a long story short I never got a clear answer from her and I ended up going alone. Looking back at this now I see how she took advantage of me by getting my hopes up and then proceeding to let me wait and not give a definite answer.

There are going to be times in life where people will hurt and there are times where I have been hurt and have done the hurting but what we need to realize is there always needs to be time for you. I have always wanted to please everyone and while that is something I have built my legacy on it is okay to take some time for yourself.

My college is known for having students participate in an organization known as Project Health where it is the goal to provide tips and knowledge for college students to lead a healthy and happy life. Each week they cover a different topic ranging from sleep cycles to stress relief. Over the past four years, my favorite topic has always been self-love or self-care. Last year I wrote an article about how it is important to love yourself and focus on yourself.

To come full circle you always need time for yourself to be successful. I love helping people and at times I wish there could be more of me to help out in any way possible but I do know that there has to be time and place for me. We all want to help out but it isn’t worth making ourselves miserable just to make someone happy that might not benefit from our happiness.

Throughout life, I have battled different emotions and that has made me realize that I need to see what I can do for myself rather than what can I do for other people first. I know the world doesn’t revolve around me and it doesn’t revolve around that guy who sat next to me in econ last year. There is always time and place for events so be sure to always make time for yourself. At the end of the day, everyone else can wait but the real question is can you?