✨When Calm Feels Wrong: A Note on Impatience and Burnout (027)

You know that meditation app would help.
You know a walk would clear your head.
You know a full night's sleep would change everything.

And yet, here you are - scrolling at 11 PM, telling yourself you’ll start tomorrow.

You think:

“I don’t have time for long walks or journaling.”
“There are too many fires to put out. Too many people relying on me.”

But here’s what’s really happening...

⚠️ Your nervous system is in overdrive

And when you try to slow down—it doesn’t feel relaxing. It feels wrong.

Like you're being lazy. Like you're falling behind.

Impatience becomes the barrier.
Not because you don’t want calm.
But because calm feels unfamiliar—and urgency feels safer.

🧠 Nervous System Dysregulation Wears Many Masks

💥 Emotional Reactivity
• Snapping at loved ones over small things
• Obsessing over brief text messages
• Replaying conversations on loop

⏳ Rest Guilt & Productivity Pressure
• Feeling guilty during vacation
• Resisting rest unless it’s “earned”
• Saying yes to too much—and resenting it

😵 Mental Fog
• Re-reading the same line 5 times
• Waking up exhausted
• Cancelling plans—not from disinterest, but depletion
• Doomscrolling even when your eyes hurt

✨ What I remind my clients (and myself)

Impatience is a sign of nervous system overload—not a flaw.

Slowing down isn’t weakness.
It’s how you reclaim capacity.

Photo by Abhinav Choudhary on Unsplash

The good news is you don’t need a wellness retreat to begin.

🌿 Micro-practice for the week

Exhale Twice as Long

Try it now:

🫁 Inhale for 4
🫁 Exhale for 8
Repeat x3

No apps. No music. Just breath.

Longer exhales cue your vagus nerve:
You’re safe. You can soften.

It’s simple—because that’s what your nervous system needs.

Photo by Sanni Sahil on Unsplash

This Week’s Nudge

Think about the last time you got frustrated for not relaxing fast enough.

What were you afraid might happen if you truly slowed down?
Write it down. Be honest. That’s where the insight is.

Closing with Kindness

You're not failing because the tools don't work fast enough.
You're just learning to live in a body that's been wired for urgency.

And you're giving it a new rhythm—
one breath at a time.

Slow is safe.
Safe is powerful.
And powerful leaders know when to pause.

To your spark,

Mary

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