You do not have to carry the whole world to be a good person. Sometimes the bravest thing you can do is rest.

There is a unique kind of exhaustion that comes from loss. It is not the kind of nap that can fix, but the kind that seeps into your bones—the kind that makes you dread another phone call that starts with, “Did you hear about…”

This year, I lost my mother. With that loss came a cascade of emotions—grief, reflection, and the quiet realization that life never quite goes back to what it was. I have also watched friends and family around me experience their own heartbreaks: parents, siblings, children, friends… gone too soon. After a while, even the thought of attending another funeral feels unbearable. You start to question how much your spirit can hold before it cracks.

Then, beyond personal grief, there is the world. The government shuts down. Families are worried about feeding their children. People are losing their footing in systems that were already shaky. It is a lot. It is too much, some days. Yet, life does not pause for us to heal.

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Tend to What You Can

Self-care is often marketed as bubble baths and spa days. Actually, in seasons like this, self-care is about survival. It is choosing to pause before you break. It is saying, “I can’t carry this all right now, and that’s okay.”

For me, self-care lately looks like quiet mornings with tea and scripture, journaling, and sometimes just sitting in silence long enough to breathe deeply. It is turning off the news when my spirit says, “Enough!” It is reminding myself that taking a breath is not selfish. It is sacred.

If you have found yourself mentally checked out, emotionally numb, or physically drained, please know that is not weakness. That is your soul waving a flag, saying, “I need tending.”

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Practical Ways to Rebuild When You Are Running on Empty

1. Acknowledge your grief. Do not rush past it or dress it up with “I’m fine.” Grief unacknowledged becomes resentment and burnout.
2. Set boundaries with heaviness. Whether that is limiting conversations about loss or scrolling less, you have permission to protect your peace.
3. Feed your spirit, not your guilt. Read, pray, walk, or just sit still. Choose what brings calm, not chaos.
4. Reach for community. Even when it is hard. Grief isolates, but healing happens in connection.
5. Do one kind thing—for yourself. Eat a warm meal. Call someone who lifts you up. Take a moment to cry without apology.

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🌤️ The Ripple Effect of Rest

Here’s the truth: when you are depleted, you cannot pour into anyone else – not your children, not your work, not your purpose.

We often mistake constant strength for love. However, sometimes, love looks like stopping. Like saying, “I can’t do it all right now, but I can love myself enough to rest.”

The world is heavy right now. Know that you do not have to carry all of it to be a good person. You do not have to attend every funeral, solve every crisis, or push through every ache. You just have to keep choosing life—one breath, one prayer, one act of self-kindness at a time.

This is not the season to hustle. It is the season to heal. So, give yourself permission to step back, to cry, to rest, to laugh when you can, and to trust that even in the heaviness—God is still present.

Take care of you. The world needs your light, but it also needs you whole.

Coach Erika