Dear Reader,

I’m giving you permission to slow down and take a deep breath.

That’s right. Breathe in. Breathe out, nice and slowly. This might be the first time all day you’ve taken a moment to think about nothing else but the air whooshing in and out of your lungs. We all have our hectic days or weeks, but if this is becoming the norm of your every day, then maybe we need to have a talk.

It’s one thing be involved and engaged in your life. It’s another to be overworked, overtired, overstimulated and always rushing to fulfill your next obligation. Remember why you signed up to do all of these things in the first place? Yes? No?

If you’re having a hard time remembering the reasons, now may be a good time to reevaluate your current commitments. If you can remember why, ask yourself this next question: are these reasons still important to me? Are they important enough to warrant the effort I am putting forward?

Sometimes, the answer is yes. But that is not to say you should continue mentally and physically abusing yourself via sleep deprivation and obligation overload. If something is important to keep in your life, you can make adjustments that allow you to still maintain the life part of the equation.

For example, the burnt out student can continue working to their goal of a college degree by scaling back the amount of credits they take per semester. They could also take a semester off so they come back to school refreshed. Or, they could adjust activities outside of school to make sure they have enough time to eat, sleep and, ideally, do something besides work themselves to the bone.

On the other hand, sometimes the answer is no: the things I'm involved in are no longer important enough to warrant the effort I am putting into them. That answer is okay, too. Learning to say “no” is an important life lesson, one that is hard for us busybodies to learn.

Many of us are held back by our fear of disappointing others, which is why honesty is the best policy in cases like these. Instead of inventing a reason for why you need to step away, telling the truth and being upfront with your feelings and circumstances is the best policy. This can prevent hurt feelings from developing if you part ways from an obligation without explanation, or start to show a lack of effort due to being overstretched.

Above all else, remember that your own health and livelihood are so incredibly important, and the only one who is able to truly attend to these things is you. While you are busy making sure everyone and everything is all taken care of, please remember to take care of you, too.

Love,

Meghan