When Everything Feels Like Too Much..
One for the road..
Hey there,
Have you ever had one of those days where one tiny thing sends you over the edge?
Someone asks, "What's for dinner?"
You can't find your keys.
The dog throws up on the carpet.
Your child asks for a snack...for the seventeenth time.
And suddenly you're thinking, "I actually can't do this today."
It isn't because you're weak. It isn't because you're dramatic. It isn't because you're "bad at coping." It's because your nervous system has a bucket and every stressor throughout the day adds another drop.
Work. Parenting. Relationships. Finances. Decision after decision after decision.
Most days, we don't even notice the bucket filling. Until one tiny thing makes it overflow, and then we blame ourselves for reacting.
"I shouldn't have cried."
"I shouldn't have yelled."
"I shouldn't feel this overwhelmed."
But maybe the tears weren't about the spilled milk. Maybe they were about the hundred things your nervous system had been quietly carrying long before the milk hit the floor. Burnout doesn't always arrive with a dramatic crash. Sometimes it arrives disguised as impatience. Brain fog. Feeling touched out. Decision fatigue. Wanting everyone to stop talking for five minutes. Wondering why you can't seem to "handle" things the way you used to.
Your nervous system isn't asking you to become stronger. It's asking you to feel safer. To have fewer tabs open. To have moments where it doesn't have to be responsible for everything.
This Week's Burnout Bar Reminder
Feeling overwhelmed doesn't mean you're incapable.
It often means you've been carrying too much without enough recovery.
Try This This Weekend
The next time everything starts feeling like too much...
Pause.
Look around the room. Take one slow breath in. One slow breath out.
Then ask yourself: "What's the next kind thing I can do for myself?"
Not the next productive thing. The next kind thing.
Sometimes that's enough to help your nervous system take one small step out of survival mode.
One for the Road ☕
You don't have to hold everything together all the time.
Strong people need support too.
Especially the ones who rarely ask for it.
From The Burnout Bar
If you've been feeling like you're constantly running on empty, check out my free workshop:
Because when you understand why your body responds the way it does, you stop blaming yourself for simply being human.
See you next Friday,
Jenna
Registered Psychotherapist (Qualifying)
| The Burnout Bar |
Less Survival. More Living.