“I wait for the even more dazzling days to come”

Spring seems to be making its arrival here in the UK. The weather is lovely right now – although its still chilly, the sun is out, and my university campus looks very cheerful now with all the spring flowers coming up. I’m glad not to have to bundle up when getting dressed any more- I walked home in just jeans and a t shirt earlier. Its a little brighter too – so its not too gloomy when I walk home. It’s refreshing.

University is strange right now – I feel like I’ve fallen into a bit of funk. Its like, I don’t really feel as if I’m at university right now. I’ve only got three modules, so I only have three lectures a week, all in the afternoon. That and two group project meetings. Plus a whole day for my business module once a week. I’m left with a lot of free time and I’m not managing it very well right now. Its so easy to sleep, and watch dramas, and read until the early hours of the morning instead. Especially since my lectures are in the afternoon. Its my own willpower required to get me up in the mornings and I do not have a lot of that to spare right now. Hence, why it doesn’t feel like university. I feel very detached from the things I need to get done. I feel very detached from things full stop. I think I may have burnt out last semester. All that anxiety and unhappiness, carried over from a whole year of it, and now I’m retreating, withdrawing. I’m not quite giving up, but I feel like I’m definitely wavering.

I’ve got two pieces of coursework due for my business module and I am 1000 words under the word count for both. I have managed to make some progress on a huge piece of coursework I have due in next week for another module, except that’s stalled now as I’m having problems with it and I’m worried I will not be able to finish it. I do not understand what I am doing, really, which makes it very difficult and time consuming. I gathered up courage and asked my lecturer for help the other day and he spent a good while trying to make me understand – but its not working out still which only increases my anxiety, and makes me put it off more. My thesis draft for my group project is due in less than a month and I haven’t even begun writing up the section I am supposed to do. I’m very bored of my group project,so even knowing how much it is worth in terms of my average I am struggling to motivate myself with it. My progress in Japanese is all over the place – I seem to be taking 10 steps back for every step I take forward with it. I have an exam coming up for it and I do not even want to think about it. Its very frustrating but I’m struggling to find the willpower to make the necessary changes. I’ve eased myself into a very relaxing state of being, or rather non-being, which is much more enjoyable than studying all the time. Its so much easier not do anything. To escape to dramas or books or the internet.

I’m supposed to be setting myself up with a good routine now and I have failed miserably at it and its getting me down. Every day I tell myself tomorrow I will do better, but that tomorrow never comes. I mean, I do have some good days where I can wake up at a decent time and get things done, and my eating is improving. However I’m mostly having bad days where I sleep in late and then just chill out for the rest of the day, putting things off until its “too late” to do them and although I am eating more and better- its still not structured enough which makes it more difficult setting up good eating habits. The more I fail, the more I struggle to motivate myself to improve.

I find myself thinking I want things to be easy, now. I question -why can we only gain things through hard work and suffering? Its juvenile but I think to myself that’s so unfair. And, of course, I wonder – what am I working towards? Just what have I gained through working so hard? The future and the dreams I’m working towards are still so far away, and uncertain. I feel restless and eager for change, even as I am terrified of it. I feel overwhelmed by thoughts of the future, but a certain keenness for my dreams to be realized already. Mostly I feel so aware that all my peers are moving forwards whilst I am not. I feel jealous of their success, childish again but I am helpless to it.

I know I need to be patient. I need to focus on the now. Take every day as it comes – and try my best to make each day worthwhile. Oh, thats cheesy isn’t it? But its true? There’s no use ruminating over the past or the future, when right now there’s so much that needs to be done. But even knowing this, I’m still unable to move forward, no matter how much I know I need to.