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Growing up, I felt like I was always surrounded by people who were go-getters. The ones that had to be at the top of the class, captain of the varsity football team, head of the debate club and the lead singer of school musicals.

I felt this constant pressure to perform; I tried to do my best in everything because that was the way of the world. How would I ever get to the top if I slacked off? Procrastinated? Told someone no?

For more of my life than not, I felt as though days moved fast. People were always two steps ahead of each other, like time was of the essence 24/7. I figured if I took a break for a second, I would miss out on something important and people would notice.

Never in my life did I think a virus would shutter nearly every restaurant, bar, hair salon, state park and retail shop. What this pandemic has done, in my opinion, is put parts of our life on hold.

For some, this will never happen again in their lifetime.

I’ve been reading a lot of online articles (go figure) and noticed many of those “go-getters” I mentioned previously are still getting in my head.

“Take this time to really better yourself,” I read, “you may never get another opportunity to do something you’ve always wanted to!”

So I thought, okay, here’s my chance to take on a new project, set new goals, really reinvent myself here. I started practicing yoga and thought about learning piano via YouTube.

I’ve tried to bake more, cook more, watch more of my favorite shows. I took some free time and walked, biked, took more pictures than normal.

Was it nice to do all those things that I wouldn’t normally have all this extra time for? Sure. But did I do all those things because I felt some sort of outside pressure to “better” my life? Yes.

I think it’s great to want to better yourself. I believe everyone should set goals. But I don’t think we should have to feel compelled to become more just because “we may never have this time again.”

Why not take this time to really breathe? Read a good book, sit outside and soak up the sun, have more conversations with your mom or another loved one and just press pause.

Life will pick up again at some point; this will all pass. In the meantime, what the world really needs is a break. Some time to sit back, reflect and not feel as though we have to make something of ourselves constantly.

Since taking some time to reflect, I realized that no one is judging me for not practicing piano. I haven’t seen people running to the stores all the time, or rushing to finish their next project; no one is sitting there criticizing them.

I probably won’t come out of this pandemic having reinvented myself. But I have learned how to press pause if I need to and not worry what the general population will think.

My advice to all those feeling some unnecessary pressure to perform is to take life one day at a time. Sometimes taking a break can be the best start to becoming the greatest version of ourselves.

Danielle Puleo is a staff writer for The Coastland Times. Reach her at danielle.puleo@thecoastlandtimes.com.

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