Wake up, go to work, come home, sleep, repeat. Throw in a couple meals and maybe a few hours of watching television and you get the step-by-step daily agenda of countless Americans. Life in America is so fast paced that we often forget to make time for something that most of us — fun. Not only is all work and no play detrimental to our physical and mental health, it also makes for a boring life and leaves us with that "what if" feeling about all of the unfulfilled opportunities we leave behind.
Many Americans feel as though there is always something to be done. When I am not doing something productive, I feel as though I should be, and it makes me anxious. To avoid this anxious, "What's next on the agenda?" feeling, I make sure there is always something to be done. I commit my time to various clubs and organizations, I make sure my job knows that I am available to work more hours, I do everything I can to make sure that I am not wasting my time. Many students, especially high school students, feel as though every second needs to be spent bettering their resumes and making sure they are the top candidate for colleges and scholarships. Ambitious working men and women spend their time putting in overtime hours and working from home so that they can climb the ladder of success. Constantly worrying about "what's next" and pushing ourselves past our physical limits in order to reach our goals puts us under a great deal of stress. Stress is known to have serious physical effects on the body - everything from headaches to insomnia. So why not just stop? Why not just quit putting ourselves through stress and anxiety and only do what makes us happy? I'm not saying that we should not work towards our goals in life, but it is important to find a balance between doing what we need to do and doing what we want to do.
Making time for what we want to do allows us to relieve stress and ultimately makes our work efforts more effective. Have you ever been stuck on a difficult level in a video game and no matter what you tried, you just could not beat it? You put the game down and do something else for a while and when you come back to the game later on you beat it with and are surprised that you did not think of that strategy, to begin with. It is the same concept. Taking a break from work and stepping away from a project gives our brains the downtime it needs to work creatively and efficiently.
Aside from the health issues and work strategies, constantly choosing working over relaxing and having fun is just boring. Eventually, friends stop asking you to hang out because they know that you're always busy, which leaves you lonely. You will not be able to tell your grandkids about all of the crazy adventures you went on because instead of taking chances and making memories, you chose to work. You will never know about all of the inside jokes and "had to be there" moments that your friends all share because you simply were not there.
For some people, it will be difficult to look back on their life and think "what if" and "if only." For others, the joy they have found in their work will be enough to satisfy them. I want to be able to look back on my life and think of all of the goals I have reached, but I also want to think of all of the once-in-a-lifetime experiences I have shared with the people I love the most. Either extreme, be it all work and no play, or all play and no work, might leave you with serious regrets when you go to look back on all you have accomplished and experienced in your life. It is cliche, but it is true — life is short and you have to make decisions that you will have to live with. Inevitably, we will make decisions we regret, but we will also make decisions that we will stand by faithfully. The point is, I believe, to make more decisions that you'll look back and smile about than you will look back and regret.
