There was a period last year when everything seemed to go wrong at once. I was dealing with a family health crisis, work stress was at an all-time high, and I felt like I was barely keeping my head above water. During this time, I made the mistake of treating self-care as the first thing to go when things got tough.

For most of my adult life, I thought saying yes to everything was synonymous with being a good person. Friend needs help moving? Yes. Colleague wants you to cover their shift? Yes. Family member wants you to drive two hours for a last-minute dinner? Yes, of course.

For most of my adult life, I thought saying yes to everything was synonymous with being a good person. Friend needs help moving? Yes. Colleague wants you to cover their shift? Yes. Family member wants you to drive two hours for a last-minute dinner? Yes, of course.

When people talk about physical self-care, I used to immediately think of intense workout routines or complicated meal prep. As someone who's never been naturally athletic and has a complicated relationship with food, this always made me feel like I was failing before I even started.

Last Tuesday, I found myself in the middle of a particularly chaotic day. My to-do list was longer than my arm, emails were piling up, and I had three meetings back-to-back. But instead of powering through like I usually do, I did something radical – I drew myself a bath at 2 PM and spent an hour just... breathing.

Last month, I said yes to three social events, two work projects, and helping a friend move – all in the same week. By Friday, I was stressed, overwhelmed, and resentful. Not because anyone asked too much of me, but because I'd said yes to things I didn't have capacity for, then blamed everyone else for my exhaustion.

Last Tuesday, I worked a 12-hour day, got home at 9 PM, and faced the same question that haunts every exhausted person: "What am I going to eat?" My old self would have ordered takeout, felt guilty about it, and spent the next morning bloated and tired.

Life has a funny way of throwing curveballs when we least expect them. Maybe you didn't get the job you really wanted, a relationship ended, or you're dealing with a family crisis. These moments test not just our emotions, but our ability to weather the storm and come out on the other side.

If you've heard about mindfulness but the idea of "clearing your mind" makes you laugh (or panic), you're in good company. The popular image of meditation often shows someone sitting in perfect lotus position, mind completely blank, radiating zen. But mindfulness isn't about having an empty head – and thank goodness for that.

Why is it that we can openly talk about going to the doctor for a sprained ankle or the dentist for a cavity, but mentioning therapy still feels like we're revealing something shameful? This mindset has got to change, and here's why.