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The Hidden Cost of Trying to Stay Strong
Exploring the connection between emotional overload and performance-driven faith
She didn’t mean to spill it.
She wasn’t being careless. She wasn’t being irresponsible. She was just being… ten years old.
But one second, she was holding the can, and the next second — Pepsi. Everywhere. A dark, fizzing lake spreading across the carpet.
And I just stood there.
Not because I didn’t care.
But because I suddenly couldn’t move.
My brain went full “blue screen mode.” No reboot. No recovery. Just system overload.
Because the truth is, it wasn’t about the Pepsi.
It should have been about the Pepsi. It would’ve been great if it were just about the Pepsi. But no. That Pepsi can was the final act in a very long, very poorly written play called “Parenting During a Slow-Motion Breakdown.”
It was about everything that had led up to that moment: The school drop-offs. The empty fridge. The unpaid bill I’d stuffed in the drawer. The one thousand medical things swirling around my wife’s health. The lack of sleep. The pressure to be resilient, kind, grateful, and steady.
