This semester, I have learned to prioritize myself and my personal needs before dedicating myself to my academic priorities. If I am too tired to study for a test, I’ll sleep and see what I can do in the morning. If I feel like I can’t handle doing any more work, I’ll take an hour break away from it. If I feel sick, I’ll take the rest I need and let myself relax. Focusing on living in the moment has allowed me to grow personally and academically. Now, I feel a lot more secure and proud of my grades. I take time to reflect on my feelings by journaling and talking to my friends and family. My headspace is clear because I allow myself to indulge in whatever I feel necessary at the moment.
I have been through a few unfortunate events this semester, but giving myself time to recover and rest has helped my healing process greatly. Sometimes, it’s better to miss school for a day instead of continuing a harmful cycle of waking up, going to school, and doing work until late at night.
An important lesson I have heard of before but have only recently implemented was the idea that nothing is accomplished without an active start. If you don’t actively work to do something, whether it be starting a new puzzle, going on that first run, or joining a new club, you’ll never get anything done, never finish the puzzle, never run a marathon, never win awards. Of course, starting something new won’t guarantee that you’ll achieve your highest goal, but you can’t get there without a starting point. That said, this does not mean you always have to be active and always have to be trying something new. Dedicating time for rest and recovery is extremely important, as well.
This semester, I have worked hard to achieve a balance between work and relaxation. A feeling I have always absolutely dreaded is when I am so overwhelmed with all I need to do that I cannot even do anything. This situation creates a cycle where I am overly stressed with my work but can’t even bring myself to start, and then I get overwhelmed about not being able to start, then I get even more stressed. In order to avoid this feeling, I clearly distinguish between time to work and time to relax. Every day I make sure to give myself enough time to rest and recover, even if that means staring into space for a bit. Then, I give myself time to work without distractions. Having a clear intention allows me to fully indulge in whatever I need to do. I find multitasking extremely unproductive and more overwhelming than anything else. I used to find myself partaking in tasks like watching TV while eating, doing two homework assignments at once, or even playing a video game and having a TV show split-screened side-by-side on my device. By doing these things, I was no longer living in the moment or with a true intention.
For students going into senior year, I would say relax. Let yourself do work as it comes. A quote that I find telling is from Annie Dillard, who said, “how we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.” When you think about it too much, it starts to feel a bit sad. Our individual lives don’t have to be spent achieving the most accomplishments, competing with others, or earning the most money. All we should focus on is living a life that’s best for us, which means allowing ourselves to be happy and find joy in everything we do. There’s no point taking every word people say, every media we consume, and every grade that we get as seriously as we often do. We should grow to become better versions of ourselves, care about the people around us, and learn how to let ourselves love fully.
Hey Ria! It really surprised me how much I relate to your blog, in fact, I wrote about similar ideas and feeligns I had in mine. Maybe it’s because we took similar classes both this year and last year, but I feel the same about learning to prioritizing my personal needs over academic needs at times. This year I’ve valued myself more and have taken breaks event hough in junior year, I never would have done that. The quote by Annie Dillard that you brought up sounds vaguely familiar, and I’m glad you mentioned it beccause it is such a good reminder that we should truly live in the present. I think in order to love ourselves fully, it’s also important that we don’t compare ourselves to others but rather focus on ourselves and our own needs because each person has different goals and different circumstances. I think journaling and talking to loved ones is a great idea that could help a lot of other students in high school to learn how to destress and prioritize their mental and phsical health and happiness. I’m glad that you were able to find a strong balance between work and relaxation, and I hope it carries into next semester as well.
Hello dear friend Ria No Middle Name Pande,
What whattttt?????? This is so freaking crazy as heck how are we here right now!!!
Anyways Ria No Middle Name Pande, you are incredibly valid for prioritizing yourself over everything else. I wrote about a similar concept in my own blog post. I also sleep when I am too tired to study. The marginal benefit of staying up is negative!!!!!!!!
I also want to note that your images are incredibly valid as well. I am not sure where you got this picture of this man sitting solemnly on the edge of the mountain overlooking the abyss, but I would 1) like to know what you searched for it and 2) like to know what he is thinking. I might make this image my background; it speaks to me. I also notice a theme of the mountains in your images- very deep. Actually, I just saw the fireboy watergirl one and was a bit thrown but now I am recognizing its artistic significance. The fire that blooms within us all, and the way the water will always run to the lowest point. Water also forms canyons which are similar to mountains and thus I am seeing the big picture here.
I am proud of you for hanging in there, great work Ria!!!!
Hey Ria! I really appreciated your mindset when it comes to handling the pressures of school. I think it takes a lot of self-discipline to understand when you need a break and giving yourself the space and energy to do so . I really enjoyed your relevant pictures as I believe they add a lot to your blog. I too, occasionally sit on the ledge of a canyon and think in somber reflection as fog encapsulates me. In fact you might have seen me doing so in Stats before. Hahaha! I am so glad I was able to have statistics with you because you’ve helped get through every single class day. You have made me laugh and you have cheered me up without fail. I am going to miss making jokes with you and exploring the phases of irony with you next semester. ALSO for the quote you used, that is Sean Carstens instagram bio and when I first read it, I was like okay?? But it is such a relevant quote and it says a lot about our values.
Hi, Ria! It’s incredible to see you prioritize your health over your grades. I also wrote this in my blog, but I think Seniors need to be able to relax more. College apps were the highlight of the semester for us, but we need to account for the stress we also built up from prior years. It does catch up. My physical health has never been this bad during high school and I incredibly relate to getting sick this semester and making up my work. I’m sorry to hear about the hardships you faced during this semester and I’m glad you came to this realization. I also wrote about learning new things, but I think something cool I took away from here is that even if you do start something, it needs to be active. This makes so much sense. I spent so much of my time drilling away at some sort of homework just to have it bite me back at the end because I wasn’t mindful of what I was working on. This just led me back to square one and having to repeat the task. I agree with the dread of just doing nothing. Rather than the work, I believe that the ability to step back and prioritize what is really needed the hardest. Thank you for sharing your wisdom, Ria! I hope we are all able to take the time to properly rest this winter break.
Hey Ria! I really enjoyed reading your blogs throughout the year because I feel like I am having a heartfelt conversation with you, our voice comes through so well. I have also been trying to live more at the moment, in fact, my final blog runs along the same lines of enjoying the journey of working toward your goals. I appreciate how you spoke about dedicating time for rest and recovery, while still placing value on the importance of action at times. I also loved your visuals throughout. Fireboy and water girl! This is such a great game, maybe not while doing 5 other things at once though hehe. What are some specific things that you do to rest? I’m curious, do you find doing your hobbies the most relaxing, maybe a favorite show? I’m glad you shared your experience and thoughts about the topic of balance and not taking certain things too seriously, and I feel like this is definitely something easier said than done, but when it is done it is a true accomplishment. I hope you take time over break to rejuvenate and get in some serious robot dancing! I am excited to continue reading your blogs next semester!
Hi Ria!
I absolutely adore the quote from Annie Dillard you ended with. It is a little bittersweet, but I think that’s the point. I spent a lot of my time in high school waiting for something to happen to me, for my life to “start”, without realizing that the time I spent waiting was my life. In fact, I distinctly remember thinking that I would just power through all of high school and then my life would start once I got to college. But, like the saying goes, there’s no point in crying over spilt milk, and I don’t think there’s any value in spending time mourning the time you’ve wasted when you could be making new memories – that’s the philosophy that’s going to guide me second semester.
I also am definitely planning on getting into journaling over winter break/next year (adding a Moleskin journal to the ol’ Christmas wish list), especially after I (according to you) “accidentally discovered journaling” while writing my blog last night. Maybe it’s a little self-indulgent, but I very much look forward to decorating the journal with stickers and stuff, like a middle school girl. I’ll finally live out my studygram era only a few years too late to the trend.