To you,
Listen, I know things feel chaotic right now. It probably feels like a lot of the world’s weight is sitting on your shoulders. Your bank account looks scary, you failed your last test, you haven’t heard back yet from the job you applied for and the pile of laundry on the chair in the corner of your room is only getting bigger. Even if none of these apply to you, maybe the stress is eating at you from another root. Maybe something just happened to you (or a multiple of something’s) and you feel stuck and overwhelmed. It feels like you’re on a train going nowhere, fast.
Things happen unexpectedly and we are forced to adapt and overcome, no matter how much of a halt we want to take.
Here’s the thing though, it’s okay to not be able to see where the train is going. I know how much it feels like we don’t have the time to not have everything planned out right now. It’s okay – normal even, to feel like there isn’t a clear pathway that we’re following. Sometimes things don’t go the way we planned, and we are left to figure out our next steps. As much as it’s frustrating and inconvenient, we have to learn how to get through these times.
You have to remind yourself what it is you’re even pushing for. What’s your goal? Graduating? Adopting a more positive outlook on life? Reading more?
If you don’t have a goal, make one because goals help you keep pushing. Recently, I’ve felt as if I’ve been living under some sort of blanket of anxiety and almost single-handedly have been relying on small goals to get me through each day. Checking everything off my to-do list for the day, getting into bed before midnight and actively trying to be more myself (whatever that even means!) are all little goals I try to work on every day.
Maybe making goals isn’t the right way to work and heal for you. So, what is? Making art? Becoming closer with your friends and sharing more memories with them? Maybe you could try hanging out more by yourself, creating memories with yourself? Whatever it is that’s going to keep you pushing, hold on to it. Whether you’re a student about to end the semester or a working mom about to start a new job, you have to find something to keep you going.
The easiest way to move forward is to move through. What does that mean for you? For me, it means taking the time during the day to assess what I need in order to finish the day. Maybe it’s coffee or maybe it’s a phone call with my mom. Find a way to move through.
The train may be moving fast, but it’s not “going nowhere”. Rest assured that it’s going absolutely everywhere and it’s not going to let you miss it.