staceybooks

There’s tired…and then there’s TIRED.

I’m not talking about skipping a few hours of sleep or having a long day at work. I’m talking about the kind of tired that sinks into your bones. The kind that no nap can fix. The kind that feels like your soul is running on fumes, your brain is buffering, your heart is breaking in slow motion, and your body is dragging itself through another day because it doesn’t know what else to do.

This is the exhaustion no one talks about.

Mental exhaustion looks like a mind that won’t shut off, even when it begs for silence. It’s overthinking everything…from the text you sent last night to the life decisions you made a decade ago. It’s forgetting what day it is, rereading the same paragraph five times, and still not knowing what it says. It’s the mental gymnastics of carrying everyone else’s burdens while dropping your own somewhere you can’t seem to find.

Emotional exhaustion is carrying the weight of the world and still smiling because people count on you. It’s crying in the car before walking into work. It’s nodding your head when someone asks if you’re okay, even though you’re anything but. It’s the quiet ache of being the strong one for too long. And sometimes, it’s not feeling anything at all…just numb.

Physical exhaustion is the kind of tired that no coffee can cure. Your muscles ache, your chest feels heavy, and even standing up takes effort. You find yourself praying for five more minutes in bed, and sometimes, five more minutes of peace from the chaos around you.

And then there’s spiritual exhaustion…that’s the deep one. It’s praying but not hearing anything back. It’s feeling disconnected from your purpose, wondering if God still sees you, questioning if you’re even on the right path. It’s going through the motions of faith while your heart whispers, I don’t know if I can keep doing this.

I am all of that right now.

And maybe…so are you.

Maybe you’re reading this because you’re tired too. Tired of giving more than you get. Tired of being the one who always shows up. Tired of being the strong one, the reliable one, the one who makes it look easy when it’s not.

So here’s what I want you to know:

You are allowed to feel this way.

You are allowed to rest.

You are allowed to not have it all together.

You are allowed to take a break from being everything to everyone.

You don’t have to explain it. You don’t have to justify it. You just have to honor it. Because burnout is real, and no badge of strength is worth your sanity, your peace, or your soul.

Sometimes, the bravest thing you can do is say, I need help.

Sometimes, the holiest thing you can do is stop.

And sometimes, the most powerful thing you can do is feel it all…the grief, the frustration, the loneliness, the weariness…so you can begin to release it.

This is your reminder to breathe.

Not because it fixes everything.

But because you deserve to inhale peace… and exhale the pressure.

You are not alone in your tired.

And I promise…this moment won’t last forever.

But for now? Go lay it all down.

Even God rested. So can you.