For the People Who Always Show Up… and Are Exhausted
Any client who’s seen me for a long time knows that I’m almost never gone. One of the things I offer consistently is that I show up. I show up when and how I say I will.
Recently, when I called a new client right at the exact time we had scheduled on the dot, she answered and said, “Wow, you are prompt.” The first time she came to my office, when I walked out to get her at the time of our appointment, on the dot, she commented, “You’re like clockwork.”
That is just how I operate. I show up. I’m on time. I keep my commitments. In fact, I try to be really careful about the things I put on my calendar because I know that once something is there, I probably won’t move it, even if I need to.
In line with this habit, I don’t take a lot of extended time away from my practice. I’m here every week. I keep a predictable schedule where people know when they’ll see me, how to reach me, and what they can expect from me.
Most of my regular client appointments are Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, and I offer intensives and consultations on Mondays and Fridays, which gives me flexibility to take a lot of long weekend trips. I often take quick long weekend trips, leaving late and returning just in time to jump back into work.
The little problem with that is that it can be exhausting.
What usually happens is that I work until the end of the day Thursday, catch a late-night flight, make the most of a trip Friday through Monday, come home super late Monday night, and then I’m back in my office first thing Tuesday morning. I love to travel and see new things, so these aren’t relax-at-the-hotel kinds of trips, they often involve a lot of activity packed into a pretty short period of time.
So when a recent opportunity came up to plan a vacation - one that was also a celebration of some important milestones - I realized something…
This wasn’t just a trip. It was a gift.
And part of the gift I wanted to give myself was the ability to actually take time off. To buffer the time a little. To not work right up until the moment I leave and return to work the second I get off the plane. I wanted to leave on a Saturday and come back on a Saturday and actually relax - leading up to it, while away, and then transitioning back home into my routines.
So that’s what I did. And it feels like such a treat.
For the first time in longer than I can really remember, I’ll be gone from Saturday, May 23rd through Saturday, May 30th. And while it is a trip, it’s also something else - a moment where I recognized something I genuinely needed in order to rest and recharge, and found a way to make it happen.
So while I’m gone, I want to leave you with that same prompt…
What is something you need that you’ve been postponing, minimizing, or convincing yourself you can push through without?
Maybe it’s something big you’ve wanted for a long time but haven’t fully let yourself believe you deserve.
Or maybe it’s something small…
taking a bath on a Wednesday night,
going out to dinner because you don’t want to cook,
saying no to one more thing,
resting before you completely burn out.
For people who are used to showing up for everyone else, it can feel surprisingly difficult to notice and respond to our own needs with the same care and consistency we offer other people.
But sometimes the things that replenish us are not extra. They’re necessary.
They are what help us stay grounded, connected, sharp, and able to continue giving where we want to give from a genuine place instead of pure exhaustion.
So this week, I hope you’ll ask yourself: What would it look like to give yourself something you need - instead of waiting until you’ve completely run out of energy to justify it?
I hope you have a great week -
Warmly,
Celia
