Perfectly Tired

What is the pace of your life?  It's likely that you often use the word "busy" when people ask how you've been.  "Busy" seems like an answer that captures the endless to-do lists, the places to be, and the many people that need attending to.  It's the answer that shows how you give and give and give until even the snooze button can't rouse you out of the fog that has surrounded your inner life.  Suddenly you're so exhausted that you can't get out of bed in the morning.  You are, in fact, perfectly tired.

The race to be "good enough" is a long one.  Shame is coaching you from the sidelines, yelling about your failings, making fun of your audacity to try, and reminding you about your deep fear of not belonging.  This race will not deliver you to the life you want at the finish line.  This race will run you right into a wall.

Our culture feeds us messages about how we should look, the things we should have, and ultimately how we should feel about the lives we have built.  The expectations are so high.  The message is to do everything, be good at all of it, and don't let your guard down because you're FINE.  But what if you look around at the life you have created and see that it looks good on the outside, but it doesn't feel so good on the inside?  

This idea of being FINE is a warning call.  It's your way of knowing that despite all appearances, you are out of balance.  You're truly not okay. You are depleted.  Spent.  Done.

A life packed with image and business can lead to aching dissatisfaction.  When we pack our lives so full that there is no longer room for creativity, self-care, and space we undoubtedly will suffer.  So how do we get back to center?  How do we undo what we have built so that we can return to ourselves and begin again?

​I will tell you, but you will have to be brave.  You will have to go against the patterns that you have practiced.  You will have to try new ways of moving through the world.

The path is the 5 S's.  I thought about making up a clever acronym, but sometimes it's enough work to just remember our own phone numbers for crying out loud.  Let's keep it simple:

1.  Speak

2.  Say NO

3.  Self-care

4.  Support

5.  Stillness

These 5 S's will take each of us where we need to go in our stories.  Each of the S's are so important that I'm going to dedicate an entire blog post to every one.  Stay tuned to discover more about Speak.

                                                                                                                                                           -JPB

​©2023 Jennifer Padilla-Burger, LMFT.  All rights reserved.