For as long as I can remember, I have been the girl who says "yes" to basically everything. Someone asks me to join a new club? Sure why not. You want me to go to church with you? Heck yes, what time? Yeah, let's go get dinner tomorrow night.
It's so easy to say "yes" to every opportunity. But there's a problem with always saying yes. You wear yourself out. It's easy to believe that you can become the Energizer Bunny and do everything. But you won't have fun trying to do it all, and you certainly won't wind up in a good place mentally.
This is what is happening to me right now. I am trying to be the Energizer Bunny running off of coffee and little sleep. I am spreading myself too thin. I don't give myself enough time to relax even for a short amount of time. I'm always running and it's getting to the point that I am just exhausted. And I know I'm not the only one who feels like this. We're conditioned to be hard on ourselves, to hold ourselves to high standards. And while pushing ourselves can help us to achieve our goals, it can also be taken too far.
So I am here to say stop and breathe.
Just breathe.
Find time, even just thirty minutes, for yourself. Go on a run, read a book, go to the cute new coffee shop down the road, watch that Netflix show everyone has been talking about. I personally don't do a very good job about doing this but when I do find a little time to spare and I go on run or just relax and watch tv, I feel a lot better. We are all human and need time to unwind. I promise creating a little bit of time for yourself will make all the difference in the world!
If that new club you just joined is causing you more stress than happiness, it's okay to step away. You can always try again in the future. It's okay to reschedule plans with friends, they will understand if they are your true friends. Just because something doesn't work out perfectly at this very moment doesn't mean that it never will in the future. Do whatever makes you happy and always remember, to be happy, you don't have to do it all.
