The Moment I Realized I Needed to Slow Down

It wasn’t dramatic.
No breaking point.
No collapse.
No warning sirens.

Just a Thursday.

I was brushing my teeth and realized I’d been holding my breath,
not intentionally, just out of habit.
My jaw was tight.
My shoulders clenched.

My body was already somewhere else,
halfway in a never ending list of things to do,
or things that are happening.

I was rushing through a moment I wasn’t even in.

That’s when it hit me:
I wasn’t tired. I was overextended.
Not from the doing, but from never not doing.

From not letting anything settle.
From never giving myself space to arrive.

That morning, I sat down with my coffee.
No phone. No podcast. No to-do list.
I watched the steam rise.
It felt like the first time I’d exhaled in weeks.

I used to think slowing down meant stagnation.
Now I know it’s the only way to listen
to the parts of myself I’ve been talking over.