Balance: something that everybody wants, yet few ever successfully achieve for extended lengths of time. What do I mean by balance? Well, I mean the kind that allows people to spend equal parts of time doing work, and spending meaningful time with family and friends. This is a problem for most people, not just adults, and not only young kids. High school kids who are in AP and IB classes know exactly what I mean. We get so busy with our academics, and extracurriculars that we allow priceless moments to zoom past us without even pausing for a moment.
School is very important, performing well of on AP/IB tests is key, getting into a good college is what we strive for. But what happens if we do all these things but we stop and look back and realize that we forgot to be humans? If you haven't been able to see it before, take a look at your life now. Do you value your family and friends enough, do you make enough time to be human? And yes, believe me, I understand being busy, and having more things to do than there are hours in a year, but somewhere you must make time.
The biggest and hardest part about this for me, and for most kids like me is to not feel guilty about taking a break. I finally told myself too quit feeling guilty about being normal. I refuse to feel guilty anymore about taking time to do what make me happiest. You aren't getting any younger, and you aren't getting any more time to do the things that a kid does. As long as you're getting your work done, and staying on top of things, then treat yo' self.
Recently I have been thinking a lot about this, and I realize that I need to make more time to be a kid. My family won't always be near me, my friends won't always be in one city, and I have to value them while I can. Part of this realization comes from my parents who constantly push me to make time for my social life, and to be a kid. They always urge me to take a break to relax, and to be with friends and family. We all get caught up in life, and the mountains of work to be done, but you must understand that you can't lose the things that make you human, the things that make you happiest. It's something we all do, but others of us are more guilty than others. If you know you are a serious offender, then sit down and carve some time out that you can spend doing what you love, whatever it is. Life must go on, we can't just constantly work until we reach a breaking point. For people my age, let's learn to do this before we become adults. Before we become the adults that work overtime, take their work home with them, and lose their love for life. Let's make a habit to take time to be human, to be blissfully happy.
TREAT YO' SELF TO BEING HUMAN, AND BEING HAPPY.
