by Oreoluwa Fakorede

1. Inhale.

2. Exhale.

3. Repeat 1 and 2 as you try to keep everything together.

That’s the core of the typical life plan.

Living is work, hard work.

Living is heavy.

It gives you things to mind: the clock, children, bank balances and calories.

Things to carry: responsibilities, guilt, the past, the future, weights.

The rush is a cycle, morning to morning: we are 24-hour beings.

Where’s the time to take time out for yourself?

“Is that a riddle?”

No, but here’s one:

What do vitamins, painkillers and sleep have in common?

Dosage.

Pour coffee in the human machine and jumpstart it.

A phone rings.

Another phone rings.

Emails.

Clacking keys.

Furrowed brows.

Concern. Worry. Outright panic.

“Where are my keys?”

Crazy schedules.

Ridiculous timelines.

Looming deadlines.

That no-good calendar.

Pressure.

Hanging by a whisker, barely present.

Lunch breaks like two heartbeats.

Vacations like three, aided by auto-response and ‘bad reception’.

Physical strain.

Mental exhaustion.

Failing health.

Frequent sick days, genuine ones.

Slowing down.

Diets, gyms and therapy.

Finding cures for things that could have been prevented.

One more notification for one more step on the path to an active, healthy lifestyle.

*cue vigorous fist pumping*

Then you get comfortable again and slide back into the routine.

Don’t.

“Take care of yourself.”

I’m not sure how many people say that meaningfully these days, but take care of yourself.

Please.

Humans are flexible, bending and stretching until we’re out of shape or we snap.

And some things are harder to mend than others.

So pause longer, breath deeper, escape more often.

Eat better.

‘Better’ is code for fresh fruits and vegetables that are not poured out of a can.

Drink more water.

Turn your phone off if it’s driving you crazy.

It is driving you crazy, isn’t it?

Turn it off.

Leave your desk more often.

Leave the couch more often.

Walk.

Seriously, walk.

Find peace wherever, however you can and carry it with you.

Hold it aloft like a prized possession raised above the head in a wade through flooded streets.

Protect your peace.

It’s always under attack.

If you will fight for anything, let it be your peace.

Never make compromises at the risk of your peace.

Do not sacrifice your peace.

The rhetoric was necessary.

Your first responsibility is to yourself.

It’s the only way you can be useful to anyone or any cause for longer.

I’ve been talking to myself too.

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Ore is a content strategist and self-professed feminist. He has previously written for YNaija and Y!. His literary work explores music, women’s rights and relationships