I am incredibly notorious for not practicing what I preach, especially when it comes to self-care. Anyone who knows me well enough to talk to me about mental health can tell you that, even though I advocate for taking a moment to check in with yourself every day and taking care of your mental self, it's impossible for me to take care of myself sometimes.

Because of that, I'm very used to being told to slow down, take a break, stay calm, to catch my breath. One of my co-RAs summed it up succinctly the other day, saying, "If you keep up that workload, you're dooming yourself to an early death."

We all know that stress leads to mental distress, mental distress to (at the very least) unhappiness and (at the very worst) mental health struggles. Why then do we, as a society, glorify busyness?

We all know someone in our lives who are always so busy and always so successful. At some point or another, we probably try to be that person, no matter how miserable it makes us. We want the glory attached with a busy schedule, with being perceived to be on top of the world by our peers, to hear the "How do they manage to do it all?" We parade our stress and caffeine addictions around like trophies, wearing our dark undereye circles like badges of honor.

It's exhausting trying to keep up with looking successful, and honestly, there are better ways to gain respect or admiration from our peers. And even if you disagree, you have to admit there are perks to being happy instead of busy, to be well rested instead of tired, to take things at your own pace.

If you happen to be taking fewer classes than your friends this semester, don't compare yourself to that. Don't berate yourself for easing up on your workload if you ever need to. Some people can handle being in six classes and three clubs, and some people do better with only four classes and one study group. There's no need to compare, even if it's hard.

I'm still learning to follow this advice, but I'm getting there. It's all about finding the little compromises and the daily chances to take even a little break. It's possible--just breath.