I hit a wall this week. HARD.

Despite all the things I know and practice about self-care, and boundaries, and managing my time, and morning routines, and mindset, it still happened. I woke up that morning, and I did not want to get out of bed. I stared blankly at my computer screen and could not work; my synapses would not fire. I was on edge and irritable. All I wanted to do was lay on the couch and sleep it off. It was like I had an emotional hangover.

It wasn’t like an emotional hangover—it was an emotional hangover.

I’ve been working pretty much nonstop for the past few weeks on my business, squeezing it into every spare bit of time I could find to plan, create, promote, and bring to life the passion that I have, to help others. I was adding to my circle of coaching peers and co-working on our special projects; got vulnerable and put myself “out there” at my town’s family fair, talking with lots of people about what I do; presented a live webinar on boundaries, engaging in lively discussion about one of my favorite things. On the personal side, I got home after 1am one night after checking off one of the experiences from my vision board—seeing P!nk in concert—and organized a fun and crafty ladies night (another late one) with a few friends. And I got to meet Terri freakin’ Cole!

I stretched to do these things not because I had to, but because I was inspired and truly wanted to do them. And I really did have so much FUN doing them!

And I still crashed.

We can still run out of gas. Even from stretching in good ways. Even if the events leading up are positive, exciting, uplifting. Even the things that light us up take energy, and at some point, we could still empty that gas tank. And just like when a car runs out of gas on the highway, we must pull over and refuel. Because otherwise... We. Just. Won’t. Go.

So I pulled over.

I let myself shut down, just for a day. And you know what? Life still happened around me. My family made it through without me. Work survived to get done another day.

And you know what else? IT’S OKAY TO DO THAT. And despite all the things that we can do routinely to refill our cup, sometimes we still need a total recharge.

I’m still feeling a little “groggy,” but listening to my body and taking that day off from the hustle has made it easier to pick myself back up again. Rather than fight through with the old suck-it-up-buttercup attitude of my former self (how many of us were taught that growing up??)—which would only further deplete me and prolong my path to recovery—I simply let go and let the current take me for a little bit, and that has made all the difference.  

So the lesson here? When you can’t do any more, or you’re doing all the “right” things and still hit that wall…give yourself grace. Let go for just a minute. It will be okay. You’ve GOT THIS. And I see you, mama!