Letters to a Woman’s Tender Heart on Managing Overwhelming Emotions and Making Space for Self-Care
Dear Heart,
I’ve been trying to get your attention for a while now, but I don’t know if you can hear me. Maybe you haven’t wanted to hear me.
Heart, I think you’re incredible. You take on so much, and you work so hard to keep our emotions balanced. You see everything, and feel everything. You are so much more powerful than you realize, and at times it seems to me that your capacity for greatness truly knows no limits. I admire that part of you so much, Heart.
Yet, you seem overwhelmed. One thing I know about you, is that you occasionally take on more than what you can handle on your own. Like I said before, I think you’re incredible. But, in order to achieve the greatness I know you’re capable of, sometimes we all need reminders and a little support. I’ve been trying to talk to you about this for a while, Heart, but you seem so flooded with emotion that you are lost.
All the emotion you have taken on, and taken in to you, has become muddled and confusing. You seem so tired, yet when you go to this place, you stop being willing to listen to me and our team suffers. It’s almost like I have no place, because your emotions become so consuming.
Please find your way out of this, Heart, because we are an incredible team and I need my teammate.
I think it would help to focus on small things first, and one moment at a time, Heart. We’ve tried that in the past, together, and it’s worked so well. Things felt more manageable, because you were reminded that you don’t have to fix everything all at once. When you were less overwhelmed with your emotions, it was easier for you to hear my suggestions on how to move forward. When you focus on small things, in the moment, you slow down. It’s really quite incredible to watch, Heart.
When you slow down, you relax. You breathe again. You start to get your perspective back, because you can hear me again. You’ve told me in the past that when you focus, it’s almost like there’s no space left over for the things that feel bad. You are deserving of peace, Heart.
You are also deserving of rest. After you work on focusing, I really would love it if you’d go take good care of yourself for a little while. You spend so much time working on managing everything for everyone else, and your needs fall to the wayside. I know it’s incredibly important to you to be that caretaker, but Heart, how can you do that and have it feel positive, if you’re not in a good place? All the things you do, the things you manage…it’s hard work. It’s HEART work, Heart. I don’t think I could do what you do.
You keep us going, by feeling your way through everything. You keep us human. There is such a beauty in that, and you are vital to the process that is US. Please take good care of yourself. Do kind things for you. Things that you don’t necessarily need to do, but that you want to do.
Heart, in order to keep doing your part in our team, I need you to take care of yourself, to prioritize yourself, the way that you take care of and prioritize everything and everyone else.
When you slow down, focus, and take better care of yourself, we are like a well-oiled machine. But Heart, you’ve got to declutter first, so that we can get back to that place.
I love you, Heart. I love our team, and what we are capable of when we truly are working together. I can’t do my job without you — and I also don’t want to do my job without you. Please, declutter. Clear some space, so that you can breathe again. So that you are not so overwhelmed with feeling like you’re alone.
Because you are never alone. I am always here, ready and waiting for you.
Be kind and gentle to you, Heart. You are deserving of nothing less.
I love you,
Brain
