By Hannah (BA Hons Advertising and Marketing: Student Blogger)
Slow yourself down.
I don’t think it’s just me who has felt massively overwhelmed with the stresses and pressures that we not only put on ourselves but experience through just existing at university: Trying to balance society responsibilities, a social life, plans for next year, interviews and assessment centres, oh and not to forget your actual degree!
As well as sleeping, eating and generally existing.
It all just seems ever so slightly (massively) impossible.
It seems we are always running around, joining in the constant conversation of ‘what next?’ whilst trying to get absolutely everything done from the minute we wake up to the minute we go to bed (or, if you’re anything like me, get home at 5pm and ‘accidentally’ nap for four hours; coincidentally, also the amount of sleep I was averaging a night. But at 5pm I refuse to call four hours sleep anything but a ‘nap’!)
I was living on this carousel, and as easy as it is to jump on the ‘ride’, the more you go round and round trying to fit everything in, the dizzier you get and the more overwhelming it all becomes.
Because like a carousel, the ride of University is a positive one with opportunities left, right and centre. But unless you slow down, it’s impossible to enjoy the moments in between: life happening right now. The rest of the ‘fun fair’.
There is no time like right now, these little pockets of time that you are living today. Not next year, not tomorrow but right now. In our little city of Lancaster, which is home for the now. You don’t always need to be going somewhere fast or anywhere at all.
S L O W D O W N.
Give yourself time.
It’s completely okay if not every day is full of meetings and essay plans and social media schedules, gym sessions, social gatherings and future planning. Some days may look like settling yourself down in a nook of a cosy coffee shop (because Lancaster has an abundance) with the window misty and the rain (again, thank you Lancaster) outside, sipping coffee, slowly working or just watching the world go by.
Take time for yourself, to enjoy the ride of life that isn’t a constant carousel, which in time makes us dizzy and overwhelmed. Don’t spend your entire time on the carousel and at the end of three/four years realise you missed out on the rest of the little joys. The candyfloss of life.
Be intentional with your today. Your now. Tomorrow can wait for some other day. If you’re always rushing to the next moment, ask yourself ‘What happens to the one I’m in?’ Trust me, and just take a moment to appreciate the present moment that IS your life NOW.
And maybe to you this doesn’t look like cosy coffee shops on a rainy Wednesday afternoon. And that’s okay. Your now can be anything you want it to be. Just make it something, anything, that’s not a tomorrow.
FIKA (Swedish noun): a moment to slow down and appreciate the good things in life.
One day at a time.