A Blessing for the Tired: Finding Rest, Grace, and Emotional Relief During the Holidays
For the Ones Who Are Carrying Invisible Things
There are people walking around this week with silent heaviness, grief they don’t want to bring up at the dinner table, memories they didn’t choose to revisit,
responsibilities they don’t know how to set down even for a day.
If that’s you, here’s a truth most won’t say out loud:
You don’t owe anyone a version of yourself you can’t sustain.
Not the cheerful one. Not the composed one. Not the one who absorbs everyone else’s needs because it’s easier than admitting your own.
You get to step back. You get to take up space. You get to honor whatever is loud inside you without shrinking it to keep the room comfortable.
Because being human during the holidays is complicated. There are the ghosts of years that felt easier. The pressure to feel grateful when your heart feels tender. The push to celebrate when your body is still catching up to all it’s survived.
Some of us are carrying stories no one else can see. The aftershocks of a hard season. The fatigue of holding it together for too long. The ache of loving people who aren’t here this year. The overwhelm of loving people who are.
And while the world is asking you to sparkle, to be light, bright, effortless,
your only job is not to abandon yourself in the process.
You don’t have to match the mood of the room. You don’t have to perform delight. You don’t have to pretend your heart isn’t working overtime.
Let this be the week where you tell the truth to yourself:
That you’re tired.
That you’re trying. That you’re allowed to feel what you feel without editing it for anyone’s comfort.
You are not a burden because you’re carrying something heavy. You are a human being in a tender season, and tenderness is not a flaw.
So move gently. Speak honestly. Let people meet you where you actually are, not where the holiday script says you should be.
And if all you can offer this week is your authentic, imperfect presence,
that is more than enough.
A BLESSING FOR THE TIRED
For the ones holding more than they can say,
for the ones smiling through overwhelm,
for the ones grieving quietly in crowded rooms,
this blessing is for you.
May you find one moment of breath that feels like yours.
May the noise soften enough for you to hear your own heart again.
May the exhaustion in your body be met with gentleness, not guilt.
May you release the lie that you have to carry it all perfectly.
May the people who love you meet you where you are, not where the season says you should be.
May your nervous system feel the first hints of safety returning.
May your spirit know that rest is not something you earn.
It is something you are worthy of, simply because you’re alive.
And may this be the year you stop abandoning yourself
in the name of holding everyone else.
With you in this.
Love,
Zelana
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