A few weeks ago my friends and I had to make a Doodle poll (an online survey showing times you’re available) to get dinner together. How sad is that?
Our calendars are so booked and crammed full with classes, meetings, events, work and other stuff that we can’t even find a time to hang out. Truly tragic. So, when six of us wanted to schedule a movie night last week, we booked it one week in advance. By the grace of God, the first day we threw out worked miraculously for everyone. Don’t ask me how.
This is a recurring theme, though, or at least at my school. People are busy in every sense of the word. Call it busy, overcommitted, or whatever you want, the bottom line is college students run from one thing to the next with practically just enough time in between to breathe.
I am one of these college students. My roommates and friends are too, which makes it so hard to even hangout with people outside of class. And we’ve found that when we do get free time, we don’t know what to do with it. We are always so go go go that when we get a second to ourselves, a second to think, it is so foreign that we can’t fathom the concept.
Being busy is great, don’t get me wrong. However, when it becomes overwhelming, when it gets to the point where you’re not sleeping and functioning, that’s when things have to change. And the first change is realizing when you’re taking too much on.
I fall under this category. I want to take advantage of as many events and opportunities as I can while I can. I want to mentor the younger members of organizations and help people with work if they need it. But, I need to know when to say no. I need to learn that it’s ok to politely step back from some things for the sake of my mental sanity. Because ultimately, if you aren’t able to help yourself and you aren’t healthy, you won’t be able to function or help others.
It's definitely something that's easier said than done, and it's something I’m working on. It’s on my to-do list among the countless other things that keep me busy.
