Balance/Moderation

Balance and Moderation...

Two simple words each implying steadfastness and the mental ability to know when too much is really too much.

Work, course loads, obligations, promises, family matters, and the like... ALL require this. Too much of any can cause stress, irritability, fatigue, and hopelessness. Not enough can cause rifts in relationships, carelessness, and sometimes mild spouts of depression-like feelings.

Balancing all of your obligations, family matters, school work, job(s), and the nitty gritty details inbetween is, in fact, a challenge that everyone struggles with... even for those not in college. So you can imagine how hectic some of us students get when we have midterms/finals on top of all the other crap we have to deal with. Solution? Balance and Moderation.

When I went to orientation for the university, all the faculty members kept reiterating something like, "Hey we know how stressful it is to do what you do.. so we encourage you students to blow off steam and stress with some fun," whether it's college night at your local bar, concerts, zombie vs human chases (which was pretty cool btw!), and a bunch of other weird off-the-wall events that most universities sponsor for their students.

I'm still working on the whole Balance aspect myself.. except for me I do a different balancing act; instead of doing what most people would do (strategically plan and space out job times throughout the week), I'd rather do it all at once and have a few days to do absolutely nothing. No really! See why I said I don't really have it going for myself just yet?

Despite receiving the same suggestions from both my neighbors and my fiance in regards to my work schedule, I think this type of balance works best for me.

For example, here's my work schedule for this and next week:
Wednesday: Ybor job (10pm-3am)
Thursday: Ybor job (9pm-3am)
Friday: mall job (12pm-9pm) and Ybor job (9:30pm-4am)
Saturday: mall job (3:30pm-9pm) and Ybor job (9:30pm-4am)
Sunday: mall job (11am-6pm)
Monday: mall job (12pm-9pm)
Tuesday- OFF
Wednesday- gosh I hope I get this day off!
Thursday- mall job (12pm-9pm) and Ybor job (9:30pm-3am)
[repeat Friday thru Sunday schedule]

TOTALLY off balance, right? Geez just wait until the fall semester starts! I will definitely have to change it up when the time comes, but for right now this works for me. But, I know me. I hate doing something every single day. I love lazy days!

Everyone has different comfort and stress levels. I'd rather just be a caffeine junky for the weekend and then lay around my apartment in my jammies laying upside down on my couch while watching TV and eating Snack Pack chocolate puddings for two days straight (awesome visual, right?).

MY MISTAKE: I probably said it already and doing the WHAM-BAM one-after-another tactic, but so far it isn't turning out too bad.. and I'm banking in the meantime so that works out.

MY ADVICE: Even though we may balance our lives differently in order to moderate our time (and sanity), we must remember that each person is different with different obligations and goals. So do what you can handle without driving yourself crazy. So far my sanity is intact...