You Don’t Have To Hold Yourself Together

You don't have to hold yourself together.

Not right now.

Not in this moment.

Not in the way you may be used to.

Many of us move through the day with a quiet effort running in the background.

An effort to stay composed,

To stay functional,

To keep everything from spilling over.

That effort can feel invisible,

But it costs energy.

Notice if you can sense it,

The subtle tightening,

The internal bracing,

The feeling of keeping yourself contained.

This holding together often begins as care.

Care for others,

Care for responsibilities,

Care for not being too much.

But over time,

It can become tiring.

You may feel okay on the outside and quietly exhausted on the inside.

If that feels familiar,

Nothing is wrong with you.

You are not failing at being strong,

You have simply been carrying yourself for a long time.

See if you can allow some of that effort to ease.

Not by falling apart,

Not by pushing anything away,

Just by not tightening so much.

Holding yourself together is not the same as being present.

Presence does not require containment.

You can be here without managing every feeling.

There may be emotions that feel slightly uncontained when you soften your grip.

That is okay.

Nothing needs to be cleaned up.

Nothing needs to be organized.

You are allowed to exist without structure for a few moments.

You are allowed to be internally disorganized and still safe.

Notice how the body responds when it does not have to perform stability.

Often,

There is a quiet exhale.

Not relief from problems,

But relief from effort.

You don't need to pull yourself together before moving on.

You don't need to present a version of yourself that feels complete.

Folding yourself