Each day has its own routine. Get out of bed. Brush teeth. Chug coffee. Go to work. Do homework. Eat. Check email. Tweet. Upload pictures. Go downtown. Uber. Shower. Set alarm. Go to bed. Rinse and repeat. Every minute is accounted for and we are constantly running. Running around, running late, running off last night's dinner.
Each day brings constant motion and requires a lot of our minds and bodies. Chances are that in all of the schedules, routines, and meetings we forget to pencil in time to just breathe. Time to be present. Time to appreciate. Time to do something for ourselves and not worry about a deadline. Time to take a deep breath and say, "I can do this." Those moments are important. They don't have to be long or require a kumbaya meditation session, just as long as they're there.
I'll be the first to admit that I'm guilty of forgetting to breathe. Some days there is so much going on and my mind is racing a mile a minute and my body can't seem to catch up. Those days can turn into weeks where everything seemed to pile up at once and I'm barely keeping my head above water. When it's all over and I've come out the other side, I heave a huge sigh of relief.
It's in that moment that I realize, the whole time I had been holding my breath. I'd forgotten to take the time to regroup and recenter. To take care of myself, to be present. Looking back on those weeks it'll all be a blur of late night cram sessions and stressful sleep. A blurry life isn't the kind of life I want to live. There have been times where I've sustained myself on coffee and I've boasted about it to friends as though its something to be proud of.
There have been times when I've sacrificed sleep or friendships for the sake of a grade or deadline. As a student it's hard not to feel like your GPA defines who you are and what your future will be, but you won't be a student forever. If you're holding your breath now, if you're priorities don't include yourself, then you can guarantee what your future will hold is a blurry mess of tired eyes, stress lines, and a purple face.
Make time for you. Do what makes you happy. Find things like reading, hiking, meeting up with friends, or watching Netflix that relax you and give you a moment to catch up, detox, and well you guessed it, breathe.
