Self-care does not always mean manis, pedis, face masks and a night in. Sometimes it is sleeping all day, getting up and making your bed, or even taking a shower. A lot of people look past the bad days. Mental health is a concept that everyone has a different take on.
Everyone is different
At the end of the day, sometimes you feel like the world is against you. And you know what? That is ok! Bad days are not always bad. Sometimes you need to have a bad day to push you towards the good ones. It is more than ok to just want to lay in bed and cry. Because let’s be real, college life is not as glamorous as everyone says it is. There are days when the sun is out, but it isn’t shining. But what matters the most is that you got out of bed and decided to go to class. There are days where you don’t want to talk to anyone, and you just want to be in your feelings. And what people look past is that it is ok to not want to talk to anyone about what you are feeling. Everyone feels differently at different times and that is what makes everyone so abstract. So, it’s ok if you don’t know what you are feeling.
Take it easy on yourself
On days where the sun doesn’t shine as brightly, the greatest reward you can give yourself is grace and kindness. We are way too hard on ourselves sometimes and it takes away from the small things that have huge impacts. Being able to say you got out of bed is such an accomplishment some days. Some will think it is ridiculous but even taking a shower and eating is so important. The most important thing you can do is remember that you are human and that you have feelings. You are not a failure for having feelings and feeling them.
What you can do
No one is perfect. No one is the same. But we all have many kinds of emotions. Find what works for you.
- Write everything out to help you work through all of your emotions.
- Watch your favorite movie; it may make you smile and you can reminisce about the first time you watched it.
- Spend some time outside; sometimes on bad days we get caught in our room and all we need is sunlight and some fresh air.
- Shuffle through an old playlist filled with positive songs
At the end of the day, you have to do what is best for you. Whether that is sitting in bed and letting it out, making yourself busy, or forcing yourself to get some sun. You have to do what is good for you! Mental health progression is not linear. Things take time and it is ok to have bad days in between the good ones. And it is also ok to have multiple bad days in a row.