"I was fine until yesterday."
Mira said in a trembling voice. In the corner of the club room, she sat hugging her knees.
Hiyori approached quietly. "What happened?"
"I don't know. Suddenly, I felt like everything was collapsing."
Sora observed. Mira's breathing was shallow and rapid.
Hiyori said calmly. "Let's try deep breathing. Slowly, inhale, and exhale."
Mira complied. Gradually, her breathing stabilized.
"You lost your balance," Hiyori said gently.
"Balance?" Mira asked.
Sora explained. "The mind has an equilibrium state. Stress can disrupt that balance."
"Stress? But nothing special happened."
Hiyori nodded. "It's not only big events that create stress."
"What do you mean?"
"Small stresses accumulate, and at some moment, they exceed the critical point," Sora supplemented.
Mira thought. "The last drop that overflows the cup?"
"Exactly," Hiyori smiled. "The stress cup theory."
Sora explained in detail. "Daily small stresses accumulate, and at some point exceed coping capacity."
"But I was fine until yesterday," Mira said.
"That's because you were coping," Hiyori answered. "Consciously or unconsciously."
"Coping?"
Sora asked. "Mira, have you been sleeping less than usual lately?"
Mira had a realization. "Come to think of it, I've been pulling all-nighters before exams."
"Sleep deprivation lowers stress tolerance," Sora pointed out.
Hiyori continued. "What else? How about meals? Exercise?"
"Meals are random. No exercise at all."
"Your physical resources were depleted," Hiyori diagnosed.
Sora explained. "Mind and body can't be separated. Physical fatigue leads to mental vulnerability."
Mira looked down. "I was pushing myself."
"Noticing is important," Hiyori encouraged.
Sora asked. "Mira, how were you coping with stress?"
Mira thought. "Coping? I don't think I was doing anything."
"There are also unconscious coping methods," Hiyori said. "Like drawing pictures."
"Recently, I haven't drawn. No time."
Sora pointed out. "You lost your stress coping method."
Hiyori said quietly. "In psychology, we call them coping strategies."
"Coping?"
"Methods to deal with stress. There are problem-solving focused and emotion-regulation focused types."
Sora gave examples. "Problem-solving removes the stress source. Emotion-regulation soothes emotions."
Mira asked. "Which is better?"
"It depends on the situation," Hiyori answered. "Problem-solve what you can change, emotion-regulate what you can't."
Sora supplemented. "Serenity prayer wisdom about 'what can be changed and what cannot.'"
Mira thought. "Exam stress can't be changed?"
"The exam itself can't be changed," Hiyori said. "But how you prepare and how you perceive it can."
"How you perceive it?"
Sora explained. "Thinking 'I absolutely must succeed' versus 'I'll do my best.'"
Mira nodded. "I was thinking the former."
"That increases cognitive stress," Hiyori pointed out.
Sora continued. "Perfectionism is a thought pattern that easily disrupts mental balance."
Mira said quietly. "I always seek perfection."
"Why?" Hiyori asked gently.
"I thought if I'm not perfect, I have no value."
Hiyori nodded. "That's painful. It means being in constant tension."
Sora said. "There's a concept called resilience."
"Resilience?"
"The ability to recover. The power to bounce back from difficulties," Hiyori explained.
"I don't have it," Mira looked down.
"Everyone has it," Sora denied. "Being here now is proof."
Mira looked up.
"Even when you lose balance, you're trying to regain it. That's resilience."
Hiyori smiled. "Strength isn't never collapsing perfectly, but being able to return even after collapsing."
Mira thought. "Is it okay to collapse?"
"You're human," Sora said. "There's no perfect person."
Hiyori proposed. "Let's think about self-care to maintain balance."
"Self-care?"
"Taking care of yourself. Sleep, meals, exercise, hobbies, connection with people."
Sora supplemented. "Activities to empty the stress bucket."
Mira took out her notebook. "Where should I start?"
"Let's start small," Hiyori said. "Like sleeping early tonight."
"Making time to draw," Sora suggested.
Mira wrote it down. "Even just 10 minutes a day?"
"That's enough," Hiyori encouraged. "Accumulation is important."
Sora said quietly. "Everyone has moments when they lose mental balance."
"But," Hiyori continued, "that's not failure, it's a signal to rest."
Mira wiped her tears. "It's okay to rest."
"Resting is also important work."
Sora looked outside. "Trees sway in storms but don't break because they're flexible."
"Flexibility," Mira murmured.
Hiyori smiled. "More important than standing perfectly still is getting back up even after falling."
Mira exhaled deeply. "Thank you. I feel a bit lighter."
"Please rely on us anytime," Hiyori said.
Sora nodded. "Don't carry it all alone."
Mira smiled. Small, but a genuine smile.
Moments when you lose your mental balance. That's not proof of weakness, but an expression of being human. What's important isn't not collapsing, but standing back up.
Outside the window, wind was blowing. Trees swaying. But not breaking. Softly, flexibly.