Oh my, how time flies! Can you believe it’s March already? I don’t know about you guys, but I usually participate in an activity called spring cleaning. Did you know that spring cleaning doesn’t necessarily mean just cleaning up your house or your apartment? It can also be an opportunity to clean up your mind and set up some goals for yourself that you want to accomplish for the summer, such as creating a summer bucket list.
This time of year, especially if you’re in university or college, signifies either midterms or finals or even both (we hate when profs give midterms so close to finals season). And I know from experience within myself and just seeing other people around me that this time brings up a lot of stress, but it doesn’t have to be this way.
Springtime is the perfect start to curating a happy and healthy mind; many people think that you need to have a happy mind right when January 1st happens and now as you know from reading my other article, you do not need to create that pressure. However, doing a check-in when springtime rolls around is the perfect time to lay out goals and things for yourself that you honestly may need but don’t want to admit to yourself. It is not easy to admit that you want to make a change or should I say it’s not easy to try and make that change when you know it needs to happen. Sometimes it’s even hard to just reach out to a friend and tell them “Hey, look I need some extra support this week.”
1. Take a minute and think
One way you can help your mind during this spring cleanup is to take some time and think. Now, you may think this is stupid and you may think you don’t have time to think but honestly, you do, especially at night or during breaks between classes. What you think about is honestly up to you but what I suggest doing is just thinking about what you want to accomplish in the summer and what you want to see during the summer. What do you want to see in the next couple of months: is it seeing sunsets on the beach, is it spending more time with friends, is it finding a summer job? Think about what makes you happy and what makes you continuously keep going.
When it comes to school and exams lay it all out now. See where you need to make the most of your time and start creating a schedule. If you get on top of your stuff now it will become a lot easier instead of cramming two weeks before finals happen. I never said that you have to study right now but what you can do is create a schedule for yourself.
2. Go for walks
Another way you can help your mind during the spring cleanup is by going for walks. Now I know this weather is a bit crazy; it’s a cold snowstorm one day, and it’s nice and 10 degrees the next, however getting out and going for a walk is probably one of the best things to do for yourself, even if it’s just 10 minutes a day. If the gym is your thing, make sure you try and go to the gym a bit more because honestly what helps is if you are staying physically active and eating healthy which helps to create a happy mind.
3. Create a “what keeps me happy” list
Create a list of things that make you happy whether that’s materialistic things or whether that’s time with friends, create a list of things that make you happy so when things get tough you can go to that list and you can do those things that make you happy. As someone who goes through a lot of stress and deals with school and working part-time jobs, I have decided to make a promise to myself that whatever happens, I will work through it in a healthy manner. As university students, we can often use other things to distract us, but we are strong and we can get through it without those things. Keep showing up and keep fighting for yourself. You do not have to have everything figured out, take it day by day and with baby steps, but you will get through it!
If you are a reader, or someone who likes to read poetry and self-help books as I do, start reading those. You do not need to read a million pages a day, just a few! A thing that has helped me recently is journaling how I feel. Write out your emotions (to some this feels very therapeutic to some it may not but use this if you think it’ll help you) and write out the things that are stressing you out and write out the things that make you happy. For everything that’s stressing you out, find something that will help relax you from that stressor. It may take some time to get used to, but it definitely does help.
4. Cut out the negativity
Something I love to do in the spring (I think it might be just the spring air that makes me do this) is to cut off the negative energy I don’t need. These are the haters, the people who suck all of the energy right out of you; whether these are your roommates that you don’t get along with or whether these are people that are in the program that you don’t necessarily like, just cut them off. It is not worth your happiness and your healthy attitude to keep dealing with people that are not supporting you and are not benefiting your life. I don’t know about you guys but when I was in elementary school, we used to do spring cleanups outside and we would pick up all of the garbage and throw it in a trash bag and throw it out. The analogy I’m trying to tell you is if something is dragging you down throw it away now because you are far better without it and your happiness is more important. A reminder however is that your happiness is not dictated by someone or something else, you create it within your own self and you should keep people around you that support you and want to see you grow and accomplish your goals.
Now, to those people who are struggling right now and thinking that they’re not going to complete their program, or their program is a lot of work so they’re going to rely on other things to get them through, please know that you will get through it. You are so strong and emotionally capable to do it; you just need a reminder of why you are doing all of this. Cut yourself some slack, life is not easy for anyone and things will happen, you will get knocked down, but you must get back up on that horse and fight for yourself. Keep showing up for yourself. There is only one of you and I want to see you accomplish all of the things that you want to!
As university students, we have such high pressure on ourselves that we have to be perfect, we have to have these great marks and we have to know exactly what we’re doing. But the truth is, nobody knows what they’re doing, nobody knows exactly what they’re going to do two weeks from now let alone a year from now. We’re all in the same situation; we’re all just trying to get through it together. As university students, it’s so easy to distract ourselves from what the problem really is, it’s so easy to create this temporary happiness that doesn’t exist and that doesn’t last, but do you want to know what lasts? Being true to who you are and fighting and showing up for yourself.
Creating a happy and healthy mind doesn’t mean that you’re not going to reach hardships at some point, it just means that if something happens, you’ll feel what you need to feel and you’ll get back on it. Keep fighting for yourself and remind yourself why you’re here in the first place. You can do it! Breathe! The time is now to work on creating a healthy and happy mind, the time is yours, I believe in you!