Here’s Why You Should Give Yourself A Break From Carrying The Weight Of The World

You’ve probably been struggling with feeling the weight of the world on your shoulders for far too long now. I know exactly what it feels like, too, because I used to be that girl. The load was too much for me to carry, but I kept trying until I snapped under the pressure. I wish someone had told me then that I didn’t have to keep up the happy face while crumbling inside. So I’m telling you now: give yourself a break, because you need it.

  1. You’re only human. That means there’s only so much you can possibly do with all the worries and dangers you’re facing. Letting your anxiety race over and over the endless possibilities of ways things can go wrong will only work you up into even more of a never-ending cycle of despair. Face your limitations head-on because they’re part of being human.
  2. You can’t fix everything. That’s okay because it’s not actually your job. It might feel like it is, but a sneaky truth is that not everything we feel is reality. So you feel helpless in the face of adversity? That happens to everyone. The thing you have to remember is you’re not helpless just because you can’t make everything right.
  3. It’s okay to need help. It’s okay to need it, and it’s okay to ask for it too. Asking for help can be the hardest part —  I know it was for me! But the relief that came immediately after was worth the leap of faith. I just had to trust that someone would care enough to catch me on the other side; to my surprise, a lot of people came out of the woodwork to make sure I had the help I needed. All I had to do was ask.
  4. You’re doing the best you can. Even if it doesn’t feel like it, I promise, you are! Perfection has no place in the measurement of how hard a person can try. That’s just the truth. If you’re trying, even a little bit, each day? That’s the best you can do, and even if it doesn’t feel like enough, just the fact that you’re still going really is.
  5. Things are hard, but you’re not alone. There are people in your life who care about you and want to help, I promise! It’s hard to feel like you’re carrying the weight of the world all alone, but part of the reason we get there is because we’re so good at convincing ourselves that no one else cares about our troubles. We’re not better off alone — we need each other. You’re not alone in this, either. Open your eyes and open your hands to discover just how much help is waiting for you.
  6. So what if you make mistakes? Newsflash: everyone does! Everyone makes mistakes all the time. Most of us spend half our lives making the same ones over and over and over again. That doesn’t make you weak, or unworthy! It just makes you the same as everyone else on this big ‘ole planet. There’s no shame in mistakes — there’s only shame if you let them define you.
  7. It’s too heavy for you. The number one reason you should give yourself a break? You can’t do it for long. It will crush you like it nearly crushed me. You might survive it, like I did, but I guarantee you’ll look back wondering what it might have been like if you gave yourself the break you needed. Trust me: try it, just for a day. Let go and let the world move on without your worries keeping it aloft. You might be surprised at how much better you feel.
Becca Rose is a writer with high hopes for her student loan debt. She's a musician and aspiring novelist, but don't ask her to write poetry, because she's terrible at it. She has written for HelloGiggles, The Toast, The Huffington Post, and more. You can find her on Twitter @bookbeaut
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