There will be days when you are tired, feel weak, and your heart will be heavy. Times when you feel that you’re burning the candle at both ends, and you’re trying so hard to keep all the balls up in the air.

When we do not admit to our feelings or take time to recharge, we are putting ourselves at risk. Our bodies can handle short bursts of crisis, but when there is chronic stress, that’s when we start to slump and fall down.

I came across an article by Tara Haelle: Your ‘Surge Capacity’ Is Depleted — It’s Why You Feel Awful.

In her article, she talks about the challenges that as a people we are wading through as we’re learning to adapt to a new world due to the coronavirus pandemic. There are new ways of needing to adapt with wearing masks, how our children go to school (or are attending virtual schooling), our jobs might be different (or have been eliminated), and we do not know how long it will take until we have a vaccine and it is distributed to hundreds of millions of people. Late 2021? Sometimes in 2022? At the time of my writing this in September 2020, we do not have answers to those questions.

Unfortunately, the struggles that you are working to overcome due to having grown up in an alcoholic or dysfunctional family are compounded with the pandemic along with the 2020 Presidential election and continued protests in American cities—the latest over a Kentucky grand jury declines to file homicide charges in death of Breonna Taylor.

I cannot see the future. I do not know what other unrest or challenges that we will need to handle, but I can tell you that the problems we are dealing with now are some of the greatest in our lifetimes. Match that with our personal struggles and we’re under tremendous pressure and stress.

If we do not address the full context of the challenges we are struggling with, how can we move forward?

To ignore that we’re having a difficult time and not working toward recharging ourselves from all the stress, is only setting us up for failure and a collapse.

To thrive, we need to work on solving our problems by making time to unwind, play, and rest. We cannot continually fight, struggle, and try to solve all our problems without downtime. It’s not possible. How do we make time to laugh and relax in the middle of global problems?

It’s not easy.

I tried an experiment recently and found it helpful. For two days, I didn’t turn on the news, left my phone at my desk, and worked on spending time with my family. I wanted to focus on unplugging and making time to enjoy my life. I listened to music, wrote, did work around the house, and I made time to read and listen to podcasts. I understand that I have the privilege to make time to focus on self-care ,and others aren’t as lucky.

Whatever your circumstances, I hope you will take time to unwind mentally and make space for yourself.

You deserve it.

Like what you’ve read? Be sure to check out my other posts in my Let Go and Be Free blog.