When Rest Feels Like a Distant Dream

(2): The Silent Battle, When Rest Feels Like a Luxury You Can’t Afford

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“When exhaustion defines the lines of your face"
(Photo by: Author)”

There’s a weight that settles deep within you, one that no amount of sleep seems to lift. You try to rest, to let go, but the moment you close your eyes, the thoughts come rushing in. Did I do enough today? Did I say the right thing? What about tomorrow? It’s like trying to swim in quicksand, the harder you fight, the deeper you sink.

Rest isn’t just lying down; it’s surrendering, and for some of us, surrender feels dangerous. The silence of stillness can be deafening, amplifying all the doubts and fears we’ve spent the day trying to drown out. We tell ourselves we’ll rest later, after we’ve done more, fixed more, achieved more. But later never comes, and the exhaustion grows, until even the idea of rest feels impossible.

Somewhere along the way, we learned to equate rest with laziness, with failure. If you stop, you’ll fall behind. If you rest, you’re weak. These lies become our truth, and we wear our exhaustion like a badge of honor, proof that we’re working hard, trying hard, living hard. But deep down, we know the truth: we’re breaking.