Yesterday Wore Me Out: A Look at the Emotional Weight We Carry

Yesterday, I felt everything at once. The pressure, the fatigue, the guilt, the gratitude. It was a full day—and not just in the calendar sense. It was full emotionally, mentally, physically. And I’m still sorting through it.

Let me start with this: I’m overwhelmed.

💸 The Constant Whisper of Finances

Even with a stable 9–5 job and decent pay, I feel like I’m always calculating. Can I afford this class? These groceries? My son’s future? It’s like no matter how hard I work, the gap between what I earn and what everything costs keeps widening. I’m not broke. But I’m stretched—and that’s its own kind of stress. It’s the weight of “what if” and “what next.”

🏋🏽‍♀️ The Workout I Didn’t Want to Do (But Needed to)

After a stressful workday and an annoying commute, the last thing I wanted to do was work out. But I had already committed to going with a friend and the gym provides childcare —so I went. And I’m so glad I did.

I modified what I needed. I challenged myself when I could. And then something beautiful happened: a woman we met at the gym started chatting with us. She used to be a competitive softball player—tournaments, 7-hour game days, serious training. She lit up when she talked about it. And it lit something up in me.

She reminded me that fitness isn’t about perfection—it’s about doing something you love, something that makes you feel strong. Talking to her was a quiet reminder of the woman I want to be: grounded, strong, passionate, joyful.

🧠 Energy in Chaos

My energy is a pendulum. Some days I feel strong. Some days I’m dragging. My son usually sleeps through the night, but this morning he woke up at 6 a.m., and I’d barely gotten three straight hours. (Midnight bedtime, 2 a.m. interruption, thanks to my husband’s late-night rustling.) It’s a cycle: tired > push through > overdo > crash > repeat.

💼 Work and the Micromanager

Work is… difficult. My relationship with my manager is inconsistent. She’s stressed—and it spills out onto everyone around her. Yesterday we had back-to-back meetings. One ran over. I stood up to use the bathroom and before I even stepped away, she called me asking where I was. I felt invisible and hyper-watched all at once.

That kind of pressure chips away at you slowly. I’m noticing it more now that I’m doing the work in therapy. Awareness is a gift and a burden.

📱 Friendships with Other Moms: Beautiful, but Heavy

My best friend has three little ones. She’s in the trenches of stay-at-home motherhood with school out and chaos high. We talk during the day—but our calls are full of interruptions, background yelling, and exhaustion. I love her. I get it. I’ve been there. And still, I leave those conversations more anxious than I started.

I haven’t told her. I don’t know how. How do you gently say, “I love you, but your chaos is spilling into mine?” I’ll probably bring this up in therapy because… where else do I put this stuff?

🌿 What I’m Learning

Yesterday taught me a few things:

• Sometimes, showing up for a workout is about more than physical strength.

• Talking to other powerful women recharges something deep inside me.

• Even when I'm overwhelmed, I’m still healing.

• I’m not the only one feeling stretched.

And maybe, most importantly—I need to be gentler with myself. This is hard. And I’m doing it anyway.

This is the in-between space no one prepares us for—where we’re still growing, still tired, still learning. But we’re not stuck. We’re evolving. And that counts for everything.