There are days when you reach a quiet, stubborn edge. Not a dramatic meltdown, not a shouting match with the universe — just a simple, steady "no more". It’s the moment when your resilience has filed for annual leave without warning, your patience has gone on strike, and everything feels one email away from spontaneous combustion.
Sometimes you’ve just had enough.
Enough of the endless waiting—for decisions, support, clarity. Enough of being reasonable, flexible, composed. Enough of pretending that coping is your full-time job with no annual leave, sick days, or snack breaks.
And honestly? That’s fair.
Sometimes the bravest, healthiest thing you can do is to admit, “Nope. I’ve reached capacity. Brain: full. Emotions: buffering. Heart: 404 not found.”
But what then? Here are a few softly-lit signposts for what to do when you've hit that wall:
- Cancel something. Anything. A meeting, a plan, an expectation you never agreed to in the first place. The world won’t crumble (and if it does, that’s definitely not on you).
- Lie horizontal. It’s underrated. Couch, bed, floor—whatever. Let gravity do some of the work.
- Tell one person the truth. “I’m fried.” “I’m running on fumes.” “I’m hiding in the pantry with a biscuit.” It’s all valid.
- Put off problem-solving. You don’t have to fix anything right now. Step one is remembering you're a human, not an emergency service.
And if all else fails: drink water, breathe slowly, and consider starting a gentle list called “Things I Don’t Have to Care About Today.”
And have a guitless, shameless drink or three. Or a puff.
As Anne Lamott said, "Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes... including you."
So go ahead — flop, pause, recharge. The world can wait.
