#...danggg

I've been sick 6 times this past year, and we're only six months in.

6/6 of those have been due to or related to an extremely stressful situation.

Well firstly, I had an extremely stressful November/December, which I think contributed a lot to this. Those months really screwed up my immune system.

4 of them due to speech and debate tournaments. I love both speech and debate (...well not really speech...), but my nervous system and anxiety tends to go into fight or flight mode during them because my stress levels are so high, and I'm emotionally empathetic (against my will), so not only do I feel my own anxiety, but I feel the anxiety of dozens of others, too. So it's safe to say that after multiple days of nonstop panic, my immune system is trash and therefore I almost always end up getting sick.

1 of them was due to friend drama going on. Admittedly my entire family got sick, but I'm pretty resistant to germs, and so I was actually okay for like two weeks while my sister was sick. But then drama happened, anxiety spiked, stopped sleeping, and literally overnight, boom I end up with pneumonia.

And 1 of them, the one I'm sick with now, was due to family drama. I had a veeeery stressful Saturday and the tension as super high, and that night my anxiety would not shut up. And low and behold the next morning I woke up sick.

What's crazy is, as I've mentioned, I'm pretty resistant to germs. I rarely get sick, typically only once a year around October for some reason. But starting in November of last year, my body has just been in full panic mode and thus it's just one illness after another.

I'm typing all of this out to show how important it is to take care of yourself, especially in stressful situations.

I know a lot of times, anxiety will be high of we just might not be in a great spot mentally, but a lot of times we're just told to, whether by others or even ourselves, to just push through it. But I am literally walking (...well currently unable to walk cause I'll get dizzy and fall over :')...) evidence of what happens when you do that, and you let your anxiety and stress boil up to a point where it becomes too much for your body.

When your stress or anxiety is high, it is absolutely alright to slow down or take a break. Because as soon as you let your mental health go, your physical health starts going, too.

In stressful situations, it may look like your saving time but just pushing through, but ultimately, taking a day off or even just sitting outside for ten minutes to get some fresh air can save you from days or even weeks of being bed ridden because you let your mental health spiral.

It's okay to take breaks.

The world isn't going to end because you needed a breather.

Your mental health and well being should always be one of your top priorities, because if you let that go, then you're unable to do honestly anything at your full potential.

I know anxiety doesn't just magically go away (someone please tell that to my ex I don't think he understands that 😒), but our mindset and the way we go about helping it can improve it a lot. And trust me, your anxiety will be very greatful if you even just sitting for five minutes and breathe as opposed to pushing on while your thoughts are spiraling out of control.

With good mental health, comes good physical health. And with both of those together, comes a good, happy, and prosperous life.