I think we can all agree that life can be extremely stressful.

I am a senior at Grand Canyon University and it just seems that every week is so packed with numerous tasks to get done that I can barely manage having a social life. I can count with two hands how many people I have been meaning to contact but just haven't because my work load seems unbearable.

Being a senior has so many added pressures and I have come to a point to where I have realized that I have overcommitted to way too much to attempt to make these pressures go away. This past weekend, however, I decided that enough was enough and had a spontaneous trip to one of my new favorite places in Arizona, Lockett Meadow.

Oh my goodness, saying that this trip was needed is a serious understatement.

My boyfriend and I set out of Phoenix without a plan or a certain destination in mind. With pumpkin spice and vanilla lattes in hand, we set out to explore.

I was googling locations to visit on our way to Flagstaff when I stumbled upon a post that mentioned Lockett Meadow and I immediately fell in love.

As soon as I stepped out of the car, I felt myself immediately relax. I was right where I needed to be. I couldn’t help but tear up because I was just so joyful being there. The rest of the day consisted of hiking, hammocking, sandwich eating, deep conversations, book reading, tree climbing, Dutch bros., and star gazing. In short, it was the absolute perfect day.

I learned something this weekend and that is this: It is so important that you take time to let yourself breathe.

Life can be so crazy and it is so easy to get caught up in all the daily “to-do's” and forget about the things that truly bring us joy and motivate us to be our best. Don’t get me wrong, it’s awesome when you’re able to accomplish a lot in one day and it's awesome when you're motivated to do so, but how can you consistently do that if you are not tending to YOUR needs?

Simply put, you can't. Period.

If you are not feeling your best or are taking care of yourself, how can you do these daily tasks to the best of your ability? Your needs are just as important as the needs of the day. Make sure that you are taking the time to fulfill some of those small needs you have that make you, well, YOU!

For me there are a few things that bring me so much joy and peace in the morning, like doing my devotional in the morning, a nice cup of coffee, and having fresh flowers in my room every week.

With that being said, I'm not saying that you need to go on a two and half hour road trip every weekend to find peace or that you need to have a crazy endeavor, but make sure you listen and tend to those small needs that you have.

Remember, those small things are what truly make a difference, not only in big picture scenarios, but also in our simple and beautiful daily tasks.

So for goodness sake, love yourself! Go buy that cup of coffee or get that extra hour of sleep. I promise it's worth it.