When the Work Slows Down, but the Wisdom Kicks In

This year has tested me more than any before — but instead of panicking, I’ve found peace in the chaos.

I’ve faced more shifts in my life and business this year than ever before. And yet, I’m not panicking or feverishly applying to jobs like I might have in the past. Nearly four years into freelancing, I’ve learned to ride the waves — to hold steady in both lack and abundance without spiraling.

Still, in seasons of uncertainty, the old programming creeps in. The urge to do more. To overcompensate. To judge myself for slowing down or not “figuring it out” fast enough.

But I’ve been here before. I’ve weathered harder transitions and climbed out of deeper holes. I remind myself that the universe has always had my back. I pull out When Things Fall Apart and reconnect to the truth that nothing is ever really in our control — and it’s the illusion that we can control it that causes so much of our suffering.

So instead of tightening the reins, I return to my rituals — the small but sacred things that anchor me. I walk my dogs. I journal. I bake cookies, read, listen to podcasts, and spend time with people who make me feel grounded. Because generating momentum doesn’t come from pushing harder. It comes from surrendering to the reality of what is.

What carries more energy: resistance or allowance?

The truth is, the peace I’ve found hasn’t come easily. One of the biggest misconceptions about this place I’ve arrived at is that it was smooth or graceful. It wasn’t. Slowing down and separating my worth from my work was painful, confusing, and often panic-inducing.

But eventually, I started to see how the universe responded every time I chose myself. The evidence built slowly, moment by moment, until one day I realized: I was more at peace than I ever believed possible.

That peace didn’t come from proving, hustling, or scrambling. It came from learning to trust myself through the mess. And that trust didn’t form overnight — it came from the repetition of meeting myself with compassion instead of criticism.

When doubt creeps in — when I wonder if I’m worthy of the balance I’ve created — I remind myself:
I’m not just protecting my present peace. I’m protecting the future version of me from spiraling into a place she no longer belongs.

And if I need even more reassurance, I look to people like my client and Somatic Experiencing Practitioner, Britt Piper, who often shares powerful reminders about how nervous system regulation supports the exact kind of healing I’m describing. It’s not just energetic — it’s physiological.

So how do we access this in the hard moments?
We resist the urge to mentally bully ourselves and choose self-compassion instead.

When I feel lost, confused, or unsure of what’s next, one reminder always brings me back:
I am more than what I do.
And more than that — who I am outside of what I do matters most.

You don’t have to earn your peace. You are inherently worthy of it.

Working overtime, saying yes when you mean no, people-pleasing, staying late — these aren’t signs of commitment. They’re symptoms of a belief that you have to prove your value in order to be accepted.

But you don’t.

This shift starts with simple, intentional choices:
Valuing your free time as much as your productivity.
Placing boundaries around your calendar.
Letting yourself cry when you need to.
Being gentle with yourself when you mess up.

These small moments — the ones where you choose your well-being over your output — are how you start to build self-trust. Over time, the forces that pull you away from yourself lose their grip. Because once you’ve tasted peace, you stop settling for chaos.

That’s when abundance begins to flow.

This isn’t a call to stop working or striving. It’s a call to reconnect to what actually fuels you. When I unplug from social media, stop comparing, and let myself just live — that’s when the ideas come. The creativity. The clarity. It never arrives when I’m in force mode. It arrives when I’m in flow.

After four years of freelancing, this has become second nature. In moments when I would’ve sent a hundred cold emails out of fear, I now pause. I reconnect to joy, to inspiration, to what genuinely excites me.

Because aligned action isn’t born from panic — it’s born from presence.

We are human beings, not human doings. We weren’t made to serve hustle culture.
We were made to feel. To rest. To connect.
To live — not just perform.

But for many of us, it still feels rebellious to value our life more than our work. Myself included. Hustle is familiar. Measurable. It feels “safe.”

But what is it costing you?

That pit in your stomach on Monday mornings.
The racing pulse before a draining meeting.
The skipped workouts. The blurred weekends. The dinners missed.

Living that way keeps your nervous system in a constant state of stress.
It erodes your health. It robs you of time you can’t get back.

So take it back.

Be unapologetic about your out-of-office message.
Be slow to reply.
Be bold in protecting your peace.

Yes — it might feel uncomfortable at first. But that discomfort? It’s just the growing pain of becoming someone who loves themselves more than their productivity.

And I’m writing this as a reminder to myself, just as much as to you.

Our future selves — the vibrant, rooted, thriving versions of us — are counting on us to choose presence now.

They’re waiting.
And every small act of self-trust is how we begin to meet them.