This post might be a little more for me than anything else. You're welcome to join me for this pep talk, though.
I've gotten 6 hours of sleep between 8am (CST) Sunday morning and right now Wednesday 12:52am (CST).
[If your response to that is "well I've stayed up for 3 weeks straight and have nineteen children to take care of and work 6 jobs..." CALM THE HELL DOWN and keep reading -this post is for YOU!]
I've endured immense amounts of unprecedented stress and anxiety -much of it borrowed stress from running hypothetical problems of "what could" happen.
I'm jittery from caffeine. I haven't objectively worked on my music in 3 days. I'm irritable, I'm not thinking straight, and I'm frustrated.
I'm careening towards a breakdown -and I need to SLOW down.
I'm incapable of offering my best at work or on projects when I'm awake for days straight.
I'll never make enough money to get back the time I lose stressing over hypotheticals.
Sleep deprivation has bitten me HARD in the past -and I'm not going through another season of that again.
Every stimulant has a nasty crash attached to it. There's nothing glamorous about crashing -and too much caffeine, energy drinks, energy supplements, or uppers of any sort can have nasty health repercussions
Lastly, if the root of your stress is coming from hobbies or work, check your boundaries and start saying "no" to things. I can't reiterate that you'll NEVER make enough money to buy back the time you could be spending with the people you love.
SLOW DOWN.
REEVALUATE.
RE-PRIORITIZE.
MOVE FORWARD.
Life's too short for stress and anxiety driven breakdowns. Make the change, and keep moving forward!
I'm gonna say it again for myself and the people in the back: you'll NEVER make enough money to buy back the time you could be spending with the people you love.
Give them your best by taking care of yourself. There's no award at the end of your life that justifies the time lost from stress, anxiety, willfull (and often unnecessary) sacrifices. Overworking yourself and making yourself miserable because of an abstract, higher-level, "it'll all make sense in hindsight sense" line of thinking... leads to lost time that you'll never get back. You're fooling yourself. Your overworked life will go completely unnoticed without real relationships. Working towards a "hindsight" goal might seem like a justifiable idea... but what happens when "hindsight" doesn't happen for 40 or 50 years? You've willfully starved yourself of pursuing relationships for 40 or 50 years! THAT'S NOT SOMETHING TO CELEBRATE! That's missing children growing up. That's missing grand kids being cute. That's missing decades of beautiful nuances and milestones of your own marriage. My misery in regularly choosing work or music over family and friends WILL bite me in the long run.
Relationships balance out an overworked life.
Be present for Amy (spouse or significant other), family, friends, and open yourself up to meeting new people as well.
You'll NEVER make enough money to buy back the time you could be spending with the people you love.
Make it a priority. Make it happen! The energy given and received from those relationships will refuel your soul on a spiritual level. It's what we were created to do!
Until next time,
-T.
