We are the ones everyone asks to cover their shifts at work because they know we will say yes. We are the ones everyone wants in a group project because, more than likely, we will do the work for everyone. We are the ones who say, “Bring on a full load this semester,” and try to join just about every school organization. We are the ones who go throughout the day with 20 million thoughts of all that has to be done and by the end of the day, we stop just for a moment because our stomach rumbles and we realize, “Oh great, I forgot to eat today.”
Guilty. I am so guilty of this charge and I reap the consequences for it often.
In honor of taking a surprise vacation, thanks to my boyfriend, (who believes I work entirely too much sometimes) I decided to share a little bit about my experiences and thoughts on the oh-so-busy life most of us live. We all have been guilty of this sometime or another. We bustle through our lives barely leaving time to take the amount of breaths we need to survive, much less even consider resting. Being in your early 20s, it is almost inevitable to not have 25 hours of a 24-hour day filled with one thing after another. But this is not just for the college adults, it is this society in general. What happened to the good ol' times of just sitting on the porch and enjoying the day?
When you don’t allow yourself to rest, you become irritable much faster. When you don’t allow yourself to rest, you are actually a lot less productive in the long run. When you don’t allow yourself to rest, it's simple to put, your whole being becomes tired.
I’ll admit if there was a list of everyday people staying way too busy, my name would be in plain sight. In high school, I played sports all year long and took as many challenging classes as possible. I thought that was the definition of busy, but growing up I’ve realized it’s 100 times worse. I graduated and started working two jobs the summer before I started college. Once college started, I took 15 hours and still worked two jobs. Winter break comes along, I decide to pick up a third job, no biggie right? Wrong, wrong, WRONG. I kept the three jobs as I began another full semester of college. It is like I got adrenaline from having to rush from one thing to the next.
However, my time came. Halfway through my second semester, despite my head drive telling me to go go go, my body hit the brakes -- hard. It was like I was stuck in the mud and I was trying with all my might to keep going. But, despite how hard I tried to keep going, the worse it would dig me deeper into the mud. My body had enough of little to no sleep, juggling college, a job and a relationship. I ended up dropping to half time, then completely withdrawing by the end of the semester and I broke up with my boyfriend, at the time, who I had been dating for almost four years. It hit me hard.
Why couldn’t I just keep going? Honestly, the reason I would stay so busy was a combination of trying to drown out my depression by not having time to think about it, and trying to “get ahead” in life.
Of course, I should’ve known in due time it would come crumbling down and make things worse. I craved to live up to the expectations of those around me and my own expectations. I had let myself down and I thought I had disappointed everyone. In actuality, they just wanted me to be healthy and happy. Working three jobs along with being a full-time college student was very far away from being happy or healthy. So the summer before my sophomore year I began to learn the true meaning of rest.
Rest:
1. Verb - cease work or movement in order to relax, refresh oneself, or recover strength.
2. Noun - instance or period of relaxing or ceasing to engage in strenuous or stressful activity.
Synonyms: relax; take a rest; ease up/off; let up; slow down; have/take a break; unbend; unwind; recharge one's batteries; be at leisure; take it easy; put one's feet up.
I recently watched a video where a young gentleman had set up a table with Connect Four in the middle of New York City’s subway station. At first, people looked at him like he was crazy, but then people were curious, and eventually you see more and more people take the time to sit down, play a game with him, and just talk. I loved it! I believe we all would benefit if we decided to be just a tiny bit like this guy.
The summer after my freshman year, I decided to get an apartment and rescued two kittens. I went to see my best friend of 15 years in Atlanta every once and a while to just sit around the pool and talk and explore the city. Sadly, it had been almost a year since I’d seen her even though she was only two hours away. I had let my busyness distances us much further. I learned a lot about myself when I decided to rest just for a moment. It’s amazing what you learn about yourself and others when you take just a moment to breathe in and out, listen, and get to know someone rather than just rush through life.
Don’t get me wrong, I swear if there was a diagnosis for being addicted to staying busy I’d still get diagnosed to this day. I didn’t magically become the expert of rest after that summer. I actually still have three jobs and most of the time cringe at the thought of “taking a break”, but then there are other times, like this week ahead, where I absolutely can’t wait to simply rest. Because I know when I truly rest my body and mind will thank me for it. So I encourage myself, along with you, to take just a couple moments to rest with all your heart every once and a while. Do something you enjoy. Grab a great book. Watch your favorite movie. Take a walk outside. Unplug from technology. Actually look someone in their eyes and say hello. We all try to speed through life preparing for the next step, but how about we all just take a moment to bask in thankfulness for this very moment.
