Working 40 hours a week, taking 15 credit hours, helping babysit little siblings/family members, cooking decent meld, cleaning my room, helping grandma around the farm and somehow finding time to have a social life = my week in a nut shell.
It was 3 p.m. on a Thursday and I really did feel like I had taken on more than I could ever handle, in all aspects of my life. I sucked it up and continued doing my homework instead of going for a hike like I wanted to, and in between subjects I started a few loads of laundry and set out meat for dinner. I sat down on my bed for a minute and I realized I am a 45 year old mom stuck in a single 22-year-old's body. I am carrying the weight of the world and some of the weight from other people's worlds on my shoulders, and just for a minute I needed to set it down.
I left my homework unfinished, dinner not cooked, and the laundry not done. I went and got my nails done, spur of the moment. I left my phone in my car and let my mind breathe for an hour. When I was done, I returned home to everything exactly as I left it, but my outlook was completely different. I was excited to cook a meal I loved, I was thankful to be washing my clothes in a washing machine and drying them in a dryer, a service that a lot of people do not have and many people take advantage of. I started back on my homework with a more excited feeling. I felt so happy that graduation is so close and I am lucky enough to get an education and be aloud to learn about a subject that I am passionate about.
What I am telling you is that for an hour I set the weight of the world down, I did not feel bad, I did not have to call everyone and tell them I was taking a step back, I just set it down and walked away from it. Not permanently, and not dramatically, I just set it down for a bit, to pick it up with a new perspective. I set it down and took a step back, for one hour and it helped me in so many ways. Sometimes, no matter what is weighing you down, you have to step away from it. Drop it and walk away. It will do more harm to continue carrying it than to just set it down for awhile.
To students, parents, employees, friends, family or anyone reading this.... Your well-being and your mental health is more important than absolutely anything you have going on. You have to take care of yourself before you can continue taking care of anyone else. I read a quote the other day that said, "You can't pour from an empty cup, Take care of yourself first". That was the truest thing I have ever read.
I hope reading this reminds every one of you to set the weight down for a minute or two and love yourself first.
