making time

You may or may not realize that my last couple of posts have had a theme: time. This wasn’t really on purpose, but rather a matter of something I have spending a lot of “time” focusing on (haha, get it). Especially at this age, I feel like everyone advises you to manage your time well.

Yet… what exactly does that mean? What should my priorities be? In addition to my faith, should it be school? Work? I’m also in college… so should that be socializing? Friendships? Family?

I used to have a HUGE problem with prioritizing my time. I wanted to do everything I could get my hands on, not because I simply wanted to be busy, but because I really did love everything I was doing. Specifically, sophomore year of high school, my daily schedule started at 5:20 AM and ended at 7PM (with a 30-minute lunch break, thank you high-school B-lunch), proceeded to do my homework/study until 11PM, and then redo it all over again.

And let me repeat again- I really did love everything I was doing.

On one specific day in class, I was sitting next to one of my friends. All of a sudden, she looked really closely at me with a concerned look on her face. (I thought to myself, "Oh please no, not something in my teeth.") But then she asked me something I didn't expect:

"Are you feeling okay?"

Hurt my self-esteem for a minute (*thank you for the blunt honesty by the way*), but then I really took a moment to analyze how I was feeling. I realized I did kind of feel sick, but not in the stomach flu type of way. I was always exhausted (which made me very moody, sorry mom and dad), always hungry, and always overly stressed about something. I was consistently bouncing from one place to another, never really having time to stop and reflect. I was constantly so anxious about everything but didn’t have time to let it out. I had nowhere in my schedule for myself.

It’s interesting how society almost praises being busy. The more you have on your plate, the more involved you are. The more things you check off of your “to-do” list, the more efficient you are with your time.

Unfortunately, once you hit a certain point, it’s just not healthy. For you, for your family, or for your peers. That’s where choosing your priorities steps in.

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In my junior year, I really had to dig deep into what my priorities were. Obviously, I didn’t want to give anything up. I didn’t want to say no to anything, but yes just wasn’t cutting it anymore. These were the three things I focused on when choosing my priorities:

What will benefit me in the future?

Which people make me a better version of myself?

What brings me the most joy?

Even though I still am not sure that I chose some of my priorities correctly (class rank is just a number y’all!!), I am thankful that I did cut down my schedule. The next year, I was a happier, healthier, less-stressed person, because one of my priorities was myself. Because I had more time, I was able to focus more on my faith and on becoming a better person (again, still majorly flawed) for those around me.

Prioritizing is important. But no one can make those decisions for you, so you really have to listen to what your heart and head are telling you. And your body- PLEASE don’t run ten miles a day if your knees feel 90 years old by the end of it (still love you cross country).

So, while you make time for what you love, also leave time in your schedule for yourself.

After all, it’s what all your plans are centered around.:)