Forget ‘FOMO’- Look After Yourself

By Jessie Keogh

When it comes to your well being in college it is so important to look after yourself. I honestly can’t stress it enough. As students it is so easy for us to fall in to bad habits and lose the run of ourselves. “FOMO” as a social concept is becoming an avid justification for pushing ourselves to our limits. For those who aren’t quite familiar with the popular abbreviation, it stands for the “fear of missing out”. In some cases the FOMO is so consuming that students feel compelled to go on a night out, even if they know they’re not really all that up for it. “What if something unreal happens and I miss the craic?” What if indeed.

Take it from personal experience, after charity week I was really under the weather and developed a case of tonsillitis. I spent the following week recovering on anti-biotics. Thursday night of the same week came and I was feeling a little better. The issue of going out was raised and I thought “ah sure why not, one more night out won’t hurt will it?” I’m even ashamed to admit I said “YOLO” to myself. As sad as it seems, I just didn’t want to sit in and “miss out” while my friends went out and had fun. “You never remember the nights you sit in” is another incredibly clichéd mantra I repeated to myself.

Fast forward three weeks into the future and I’m lying in a hospital bed in a corridor of an overcrowded hospital, hooked up to an IV drip. I had never felt this ill in my entire life, and it all came down to not respecting my body and looking after myself. Were the overpriced cocktails and dodgey 90s music worth it in the end? Myself and my demon tonsils would have to disagree. The fact is we should be big enough and bold enough to recognise when it’s time to say no for our own well being. I wasn’t and I paid the ultimate price. At the moment it is looking like I will have to miss more college due to more doctor and hospital visits. I just feel like had I decided not to go out that night for the right reasons, I would have saved an awful lot  more than what was in my purse.

I know it sounds “dry”, but trust me your health really is your wealth and you never fully realise that until it’s put in to question. So the next time you’re not 100% feeling “D’icon”, don’t go to “D’icon”. The world won’t stop turning, the tunes won’t stop playing and the drink won’t stop flowing. It will all still be there next week, and the week aftet that. The chances are you’re not going to miss a single thing, so get one up on your ‘destined for hangover’ friends by staying in an watching netflix and MAYBE (if you’re feeling crazy enough) starting your next assignment. Your body, mind and soul will thank you for it. (Not to mention your bank balance!)

Good luck with end of semester exams and remember that the UL Counselling drop in service is on hand daily in the main building if you ever need a confident and friendly ear.