Life can be a complicated mess sometimes. Personally, it seems like the difficult things wait to come until they can all come at once. Papers, exams, personal problems, and just about everything else decide to hit me within about a five-minute span. I used to just let it hit me and take me down for however long it was necessary. This approach makes things so much worse and makes it that much harder to get back up once its time. Lately, I have been trying to look after myself just a little bit more. I still cancel just about every doctor’s appointment regardless of how important, but I am more willing to take time and be by myself now.

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I do not think I ever fully acknowledged the importance of caring for yourself until this past summer, honestly. It was once I found myself alone more, my friends had gone back home or off to complete internships over summer break and my boyfriend moved six hours away for work. The people I had invested all of my time into were now gone and now the only person for me to invest my time into was, well, me. I found myself doing more than just falling asleep to whatever was on Netflix and instead found myself getting invested in new books and trying new hobbies. I was doing more than taking some time to enjoy washing my hair and I could truly feel the difference.

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Now that I am finally starting to get back into a solid schedule, I am starting to struggle to take the time to care for myself. The times that I would have gone to the gym, I am now filling with studying and brief naps. The bedtime that I tried so hard to keep is now gone and has been replaced with staying up far later than I would like to in order to squeeze in as much time with my friends and the books that I was in the middle of are now back on the shelf, collecting dust because I am too tired to pick them up and have turned my attention back to Netflix.

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We live in such a fast-paced world that it makes it hard to take care of ourselves and when we do, we’re made to feel guilty for it. With such a stigma that is still attached to mental health, it is unreasonably difficult to request some time for yourself. People do not respond well to “mental health days” and it’s rather unfair to everyone. People are not robots, but we are expected to behave as one because there is work that needs to be done and that is expected to take precedence over one’s mental health. It’s almost funny, though, that people have become busier over the years and as a result have stopped treating people as if they were a person at all.

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There are so many demands in modern life that people tend to forget about themselves. Sometimes it’s because they don’t have time and other times people choose to ignore their own needs in order to keep their job and please their boss or customers/clients. Yet, with all the stress we are under, we seem to fail to acknowledge that other people are struggling too. This is especially true in the customer service industry. Everything is so instantaneous now and it has contributed to the poor treatment of people as well as the demand for companies to accept no excuses when you need time off of work. Being forced to go to work when the city is going through extreme weather and no one is supposed to be on the streets is insane, but companies expect just that and will remind you of how replaceable you are if you cannot make it in.

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No one cares about other people and that makes it so much harder to care for yourself. Especially now as our country is dragging us back in time rather than leading us forward the tension is high. So many people are struggling to make ends meet and are criticized for it by people that have never seen any level of struggle. Children are choosing to take their lives because asking for help is frowned upon. Taking time for yourself is harder than ever, but it is also more important than ever. Take some time at least once a week and unplug from everything and just enjoy your own company. Do something you love or do nothing at all - whatever makes you feel best and keeps you sane in this crazy world.