But sometimes the "tough" need a break, too.
Everyone has had those days where you feel like doing absolutely nothing. Not because you're feeling especially lazy or lethargic, but because you simply don't want to face whatever may come your way. Those days where you lay in bed, glaring at the clock that's screaming you only have 43 more minutes until your 10 o'clock class starts while simultaneously reminding you that you still have yet to shower or finish your assignment.
Those days where you're so busy throughout the entire day that when you finally glance up to check the time you realize you haven't eaten all day and it magically became 8:23 p.m. somewhere in between responding to countless emails and phone calls and attempting to study for that exam you know will kick your butt. Those days where you receive bad news on top of worse news on top of terrible news. Those days that turn into weeks of feeling mentally and physically exhausted. We've all had those days and weeks.
I don't know about you, but I like to think of myself as a fairly strong and "tough" individual. But sometimes it all piles up and I get myself in a funk where the things I usually love can't even make me smile because I have a constant loop of what I still have to get done racing through my head.
Part of this, of course, is just the natural way the end of the semester goes. Professors trying to squeeze in that last project and "reminding" you of that tiny detail that counts for half of your final exam grade (even though you know it was never mentioned at the beginning of the term).
Your clubs and organizations all planning their separate events and activities to "go out with a bang this semester!" that you get roped into not only attending, but somehow organizing the whole thing. Alone. Forgetting about that one paper, even though it's due each week at the exact same time. This is all just the norm for this time of year.
And with the way life always seems to work, your bad days somehow always end up overlapping the days where you need to be at the top of your game.
It's hard. It's really hard, actually. It's difficult to keep your peace of mind while it feels like everything around you is crumbling and slowly falling apart. It's not easy putting up a strong front and pasting on a smiling face, and sometimes a break is necessary.
It's okay to admit defeat sometimes. There will be times where your best isn't quite enough, and that's okay, too. Being strong and "tough" not only means what we've been taught to recognize it as. It also means realizing when you've reached and surpassed your limits, and instead of pushing and pushing until you burn out, you take a few steps back. Take that break.
Go watch a couple of Disney movies (I highly recommend The Aristocats). Kidnap your BFF and binge on some froyo. Spend a, quite frankly, a disgusting amount of time getting lost in the depths of Tumblr. Do whatever it takes to clear your mind and if, when you come back to the issue at hand, you decide that it's not worth the headache, own it. Don't let anyone else make you feel bad for giving up.
No one expects you to be "tough" 100% of the time. No one is perfect and everyone makes mistakes. And not to be completely cliché, but everything will work out the way it's supposed to.
