I always reminisce on my high school days when I think about when I first came to the realization of ever-spreading myself too thin. In the shortest of terms, I made a sacrifice. And to elaborate just a smidge, a sacrifice that was incredibly tough for me at the time and would likely still be to this day. Granted, my circumstances are vastly different than they were three almost four years ago, but my passions for what I had to prioritize between were measured, compared, and even doubted at times. I hate that I still do that.
I also hate that there are only 24 hours in the day and even less that I'm healthily allowed to occupy with responsibilities, classes, friends—as you can accurately guess, the list goes on and on and on. "Healthily" is sugarcoating it; whatever you might call a decent amount of sleep has felt more like an obligation than a very basic need. And I know for a fact there are others just like me, if not more deprived because of deadlines to be met, people to please, and shifts through which to autopilot.
Students, especially, haven't always had to operate like this. Part of it has to stem from greater expectations of this and succeeding generations, which only makes for growing pressure. A lot of it is societal, yes, but the much more weighted derivative is also internal.
Many of us hold ourselves to a starkly different standard than the rest of the world. I can at the very least say this on behalf all my fellow Type A's.
And sometimes, it really is the case that we want to do two (or more) things with an equal amount of fervor and drive, but the resources at hand—the most stubborn one being time, or lack thereof—usually won't permit this. Even if we can squeeze everything into a given timeframe, who's to say we aren't sacrificing necessary quality alone time for ourselves? Very rarely do we factor these kinds of things in, and it leaves us feeling burnt out and easily disagreeable with the responsibilities we are bending over backward to fit into a day's limited time.
But, despite how little we want decisions of prioritization to actually be ours to make, we are the only ones to gauge how much we wish to participate and feasibility of doing so. Personally, I believe there is a "doing too little" lifestyle for me, but I cannot imagine myself ever willingly opting for it.
Less is more right? And if you can't take it from me, try Ron Swanson.
