You are enough. What you are doing is enough. What you choose to be is enough. Some of us use over-extension as a means of coping or distraction. It’s better to feel overwhelmed than it would be to feel anything unpleasant you may be avoiding (or not feeling anything at all). There is no room for bad feelings if there is no room for any feelings. Overwhelmedness is a self-prescribed medication; it treats the symptoms while ignoring the cause. Take a step back. Breathe. Let yourself think. Let yourself feel. Flip the auto-pilot switch to ‘off.’ You can take control, and allow yourself to look ahead, look around, and choose to be right where you are in this moment.

    I am a self-diagnosed workaholic at the age of twenty-one. It’s a dangerous addiction in the sense that it is one that yields productivity and positive results (temporarily). It begins a cycle that generates positive result after positive result, making you question why you would ever break it. It benefits others, so most won’t make the effort to tell you to slow down. However, what you need to know is: you can be a hero without saving the world yourself; no one has to do it all alone.

    The definition of success should not be the extent to which you can stretch yourself before breaking. You should not feel guilty for taking time to do things that are enjoyable or good for you in any way rather than spending the time on some deemed ‘productive.’ Life will pass you by as you remain tied down to your desk, laptop, or phone, and you won’t realize what you are missing until it is too late to experience it.

    Like me, you may need someone or something to hit the brakes for you during your rampant auto-pilot cruising. I’m fortunate enough to have a boyfriend who is successful in his own right, but (and I hate to admit it) is quite a bit more ‘fun’ than I am. Find someone who makes you smile incessantly and reminds you to take a break (and who reminds you that he’d like to see you for more than an hour a day).

    Take time for yourself, take time for others. Your “success” is vital, but so is your connected human experience. Your future self will thank you for taking the time to live, rather than crashing through each day.