Sustainable Lifestyle

There is a lot of talk in the media these days about sustainable lifestyles. The talk is mostly about consuming less and leaving a smaller footprint on the earth. Global warming is something that is a serious concern. People are attempting to live lives that allows them to sustain the life they have. This may involve buying a fuel efficient car, not going in to debt to buy things that are outside of their ability.

The sustainable lifestyle that I am more concerned with at this moment does not involve my environmental footprint on the earth at all. It involves more of being able to sustain the relationships and responsibilities that I have taken on in my life.

It was not until I came back to school that I realized how unsustainable my lifestyle is in London. During the summer, my life revolves around a group of people. It is not necessarily a small group of people, but it is a close group. It is easy to sustain the relationships there because the same effort is put into all the relationships there. When relationships of all forms are at the center of everyone's lives.

Now that I am back at school, I am realizing that I do not have a sustainable lifestyle here. More than stretching myself with classes (which is something I do on a regular basis), I tend to stretch myself with relationships as well. I am currently overloading on classes, something that will not surprise those who know me. When I am not overachieving, I feel as though I am achieving nothing in my life.

The stretching of relationships is something that I didn't realize would happen. In community, we are more aware of our limits. We are also much more aware of how precious time is. At school, I am with a group of people who think that their lives will go on forever. The sad part if that they don't. That fact is something that I am so much more aware of. The people I live with and the people that I love most dearly most often have a shorter life span than the rest of the world due to a freak accident of genetics. There is nothing in the world that can change that.

At school relationships are something that get stretched. Many relationships are something that are passing. Acquaintances are more common than true friends. It is easy to see people and think that they will be friends for a long time, but in reality, that is not what happens. Over the course of years at university, many people become passing, no matter how long you try to cling to them.

It is hard to know which relationships to cling to and which ones you have to let go of. Sometimes it hurts to pull yourself in and sustain only the ones that are good. It is hard to pull yourself in and decide which ones are good and which ones are not. It hurts to sometimes to put yourself and your ability to sustain your life first. It hurts, but sometimes it is necessary.

This year I am aware that I am spreading myself thin when it comes to classes. The one way I am not going to spread myself thin is in my relationships. I am aware that it hurts for some people to feel me pulling back, but it's something I have to do. In order to sustain the most important relationships, I am making priorities. As horrible as that feels, it's what's important for me.

It's easy to know a lot of people. It is simple to want to be able to do everything. A Superman complex is not an uncommon thing. I should know because I certainly have it. In my attempt to beat back this complex, I am trying to create a life that I can sustain. That means sustaining it in ways that do not drive me to the edge of my sanity or push me to the edge of my physical limits. Hopefully this will work. I'll let you know.