By Khadijah Ashanna Halliday
How to not let this life drive you crazy
As someone — and not just any
someone, a teen — who has battled
(or is battling, rather) a number of
difficulties for the mere few years
of my existence…let’s just say I’ve
had my fair share of fighting the
crazy that is this world -- this life.
When gifted the opportunity to
shape my own column, it took
me a while to arrive at this topic.
I filtered through myriad ideas —
from complex tongue-twisting
monologues to dark poetic pieces.
Ha, you can be glad I opted out of
both of those options. I decided
instead to approach this simply --
or at least far more simply -- than I
was approaching it initially. I guess
you could say the decision-making
was making me…crazy.
And it was familiar—the feeling
of going crazy over something,
that is. However, that scenario
is trivial compared to what I’m
really directing this column at. But
you get the idea. Here is the first
installment.
Part I: Find something you love to
do
No one can truly live healthily
without some sort of release. We
are emotional creatures. As human
beings, we need to vent. This is
all part of the human condition.
The catch is we won’t always
necessarily have or want a person
to vent to because sometimes
we ourselves may not feel to be
surrounded by people — even
by the ones we love. And, look,
a healthy dose of wanting to be
alone to reflect or to think or to
just breathe, is okay. It’s how we go
about spending that solitary time
that prevents us from defeating the
crazy.
Find something that you love to
do, something that isn’t dependent
on those you have in your life.
Because, truth is everything
that involves a relationship isn’t
permanent. Relationships are the
most precarious things ever. We
never know what can happen. And
visiting the future to see ahead or
even the past to take back a harsh
word isn’t an option. No, I don’t see
any of us with infinity stones.
I say all that to say it truly makes
sense to find a hobby—something
separate or away from those you
love. For example: for me, it’s
writing. In fact, when I look back
at my past few years in which I’ve
dealt with some tough stuff, writing
has saved me.
Your passion becomes your anchor
when you’re drowning in a sea of
sharks all wired to drive you crazy.
68 SL-YOU | It’s All About Business
Finding something you love to do
is like finding that one series on
Netflix during which you don’t look
at your smartphone for the entire
45 minutes of the episode.
I really want to end as real as
possible. This life is hard, so we
are going to have to put effort into
doing things that will help us to live
— hopefully beyond just survival,
but to thrive.
Me? I’m working on that. I mean…
I’m still figuring out how to stay
sane — if it’s not too late already.
But the profound impact that
writing has had on my life is the
reason that I believe that finding a
passion cannot be an option.
To fight the crazy that is this life,
finding something you love to
do and pouring yourself into it is
a necessity. Your passion is the
saviour that your Saviour has gifted
you.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Khadijah Halliday is a student at
the Sir Arthur Lewis Community
College. She is a Spoken Word
artist, poet, award-winning writer
and empath with a keen interest in
human behaviour.
Follow her on social media:
ashspeaksagain Ash Speaks
www.slyoumag.com | September-October 2019