The Silent Weight We All Carry: Navigating Stress in the Age of Overwhelm
I will never forget the overwhelming feeling of fear that swept over me one night (And many nights thereafter). I was scared, but could not figure out why. My heart was pounding faster by the second. I started to feel a pain in my chest. My left arm started to feel tingly as if it were going numb. I knew right then I was having a heart attack. I frantically called 911, screaming in desperation to send an ambulance to the hotel I was at. When they arrived, they hooked me up to an EKG and drove me to the hospital. My heart racing at 160BPM. After several hours, multiple tests and some Xanax, the doctor came in my room and told me I had a panic attack. WHAT? HOW? I didn't understand what caused this and surely all the symptoms I felt when I called 911 were real.
This happened over and over for years until I learned how to recognize reality vs panic. My panic attacks started to take a back seat but chronic daily anxiety started to set in.
It’s the unspoken pressure we’re all carrying—the endless juggling act between work, home, school, parenting, and everything in between. Sometimes, it feels like the world is demanding more from us than we even have to give.
But we keep going. We push through, telling ourselves that if we just hang on a little longer, things will get easier. Except, they don’t. The deadlines pile up, the kids need more, work demands more, life pulls at you in every direction. And in the midst of it all, the stress and anxiety grow, sometimes silently, sometimes loudly—until one day, you realize you’re running on empty.
You’re exhausted, but sleep doesn’t come easily. (Thanks Benadryl) You’re overwhelmed, but stopping feels like a luxury you can’t afford. The lines between work, home, school, and parenting blur, and suddenly you’re just surviving, not living. The pressure to be everything for everyone is real, and it’s relentless.
The worst part? We’ve been sold this dream that peace comes later—when we’re 67, when we finally get to retire. As if we’re supposed to push through decades of stress and burnout, only to hope for a quiet, peaceful life at the end. But let’s be honest—how many people do you know who actually get to retire and live stress-free? Not many.
Retirement isn’t some magical escape from life’s pressures. If anything, for many people, it’s a time of financial strain, health problems, and the realization that they’ve spent their entire lives waiting for peace that never came. The truth is, the idea of “working hard now to enjoy life later” is broken. And we’re breaking ourselves trying to live by it.
We rarely talk about where this road leads—how it slowly chips away at us, day by day. How we begin to lose sight of ourselves in the chaos. How the stress we bury deep down starts to surface in ways we didn’t expect—snapping at loved ones, feeling detached from the things that once brought us joy, or just feeling so utterly depleted that getting out of bed feels like a win.
It’s time to have an honest conversation about this. Not just for ourselves, but for everyone around us.
Because where do we go from here? We can’t keep pretending that everything is fine while we’re all quietly unraveling under the weight of impossible expectations.
We Start by Acknowledging It
The first step is admitting that this pace is unsustainable. It’s okay to say you’re overwhelmed. It’s okay to say you’re struggling. We need to normalize those conversations—whether it’s with your partner, a friend, or even a coworker. You’d be surprised how many people are feeling the same way but are too afraid to speak up.
We Prioritize What Matters
It’s time to take a hard look at what’s on our plates and decide what really matters. Not everything is urgent. Not everything is important. We have to learn to let go of the idea that we have to be all things to all people. Sometimes, you need to hit pause, step back, and ask yourself: Is this worth my mental health?
We Learn to Say No
One of the hardest but most important lessons I’ve learned is that saying no is not a sign of weakness. In fact, it’s a form of strength. We’ve been conditioned to say yes to every opportunity, every favor, every demand. But the more we say yes to others, the more we’re saying no to ourselves. Start protecting your time and energy like the precious resources they are.
We Make Space for Ourselves
When was the last time you truly took time for yourself? Not just a few minutes between tasks, but actual, dedicated time to recharge? We can’t pour from an empty cup, yet so many of us are running on fumes. Whether it’s through mindfulness, exercise, journaling, or simply sitting in silence—find what fills you up and make it non-negotiable in your life.
We Stop Trying to Be Perfect
Perfection is a myth. Yet, how many of us are chasing it every single day? The perfect parent, the perfect employee, the perfect partner. It’s impossible, and deep down, we know it. But the pressure is still there, and it’s suffocating. Let’s give ourselves permission to be human—to have bad days, to make mistakes, and to not have it all figured out.
We Build a Support System
You don’t have to go through this alone. Whether it’s through family, friends, or professional support, it’s crucial to have people in your corner who can lighten the load. Sometimes, the bravest thing you can do is ask for help.
We Stop Waiting for Some Distant ‘Peace’
Here’s the thing: waiting for retirement to finally feel peace is a gamble we can’t afford to take. There’s no guarantee that when you’re 67, you’ll suddenly be free of stress. In fact, many people find that retirement brings a whole new set of challenges. We need to stop telling ourselves that we have to endure decades of burnout before we earn the right to live a peaceful life.
Peace can’t be something we wait for—it has to be something we build into our daily lives. It means reclaiming your time, setting boundaries, and deciding that your mental health isn’t up for negotiation. Because if we don’t create space for ourselves now, we’ll spend our entire lives chasing a version of happiness that never comes.
Avoid the News
News, by its very nature, often focuses on the bad. It’s sensationalized, designed to grab attention, and make us feel like we can’t look away. But constantly feeding our brains with fear, disaster, and conflict primes us to live in a state of alertness—always waiting for the next bad thing to happen.
It’s not about avoiding reality. We can stay informed without drowning in it. Choosing mindfulness over news consumption allows us to be present in our own lives—to focus on what’s happening in our immediate world, on what we can control.
We Look to the Future with Hope
The truth is, this moment we’re all in—it’s hard. But it doesn’t have to define us. We have the power to change how we move forward, to set boundaries, to make space for our mental health, and to stop letting stress and anxiety rule our lives. We can rewrite the script, starting with one small step at a time.
So, where do we go from here? We choose us. We choose to acknowledge the pressure, take back control, and prioritize our peace now—not 40 years from now. Because if we don’t, who will?
