We're all so excited for fall that we can basically feel the PSL already starting to replace the blood in our veins, but all these delicious, 'gram worthy autumnal adventures come with a price. Fall can be stressful AF, even in the sneakiest of ways. I mean, sure, if you're going back to school then the source of your stress is fairly obvious — all those textbooks aren't going to buy themselves, yo. But even if you're not going to school, you still feel that same weird Ghost Of Stresses Past on your shoulder.
The thing is, fall will always be associated with new beginnings, and with the idea of a new beginning comes a tremendous amount of pressure to live up to it. If you feel like you're racing to get stuff done or "over with" so you have time to focus on whatever new chapter you are either consciously or unconsciously deciding to start in fall, you're not alone. It's stress on either side — stress to feel like you fulfilled all your summer obligations, stress to live up to your autumn ones, stress to figure out where the hell you put that infinity scarf you bought on sale last spring is so you can live out your filtered Tumblr photo set fantasies. It's a LOT.
Plus, let's be real. August is a sh*t show. Everybody's either on vacation and coming back to get slammed at work, or not on vacation and drowning in FOMO. Celebrities are divorcing. The pit stains on your fave shirt have become impossible to ignore. Your air conditioning is as unreliable as Zayn Malik's ability to keep his Twitter rants in check. It might feel like you're about to lose your marbles at any given moment, but hey, we gotta keep it in perspective. Here are some things to remind yourself when you're really on the ~edge~ over little things:
This Is Not Life Or Death.
Tell yourself this in a calm way, not in an "OMG, you're freaking out over NOTHING" way. This doesn't have to be a condescending reminder so much as a reality check. You may be frustrated, you may feel inadequate, but you are safe. You are in one piece. Take a breath.
"What's The Worst Case Scenario?"
Play out the realistically worst case scenario to whatever you're stressed out about, and play it to the end. Marinate in your worst case for a moment as if it were real. Even when that case is just pretend, you know it's nothing you couldn't handle — and now that you've faced it head on, you have one less unknown to worry about.
"In The Grand Scheme Of Things, I Probably Won't Even Remember This Moment."
Yes, you may feel like you want to claw a space out of your brain and do an angry noodle dance and scream at Siri for no reason just to feel something, but this insanity is temporary. Future You is not going to give a crap about it. Channel Future You. She knows what's up.
"Nobody Is Actually Waiting For Me To Fail."
Because we put everything on blast with social media, our generation especially seems to have this overly-heightened, straight up paranoid belief that the instant we screw something up — nay, the instant we start to potentially navigate into screw up territory — someone is watching and waiting and hoping for it. But Facebook isn't actually watching your tiny, day-to-day, personal "failures," and nobody else is, either. Most of the time when you screw up, you're the only one who notices or cares. You are not Beyoncé. And sometimes that is a beautiful thing.
"I've Got All Kinds Of Time."
Sometimes we work ourselves into tizzies because we feel like we have to be successful RIGHT THIS INSTANT NOW, whether it be the mountain of things we have to accomplish in a day, or the overarching goals we have for ourselves in life. When we don't see immediate results, we get discouraged to an almost delusional degree. We're so used to seeing ~success stories~ overnight that we feel a weird pressure to live up to them, even though success is rarely truly overnight. I'm going to be a big dork and quote my mom, but she always says to "Run your own race." Stop looking at what other people are doing. Put your horse blinders on and get sh*t done on your own time, in your own way, and trust that if you work hard, things are going to fall into place.
This Video Exists.
Just trust me. If you are feeling stressed over something dumb, this will fix you every time.
Images: Netflix; Giphy(5)
