For women like us

There are days when everything feels manageable.
And then there are days when it doesn’t.

Days when getting up feels heavy.
When motivation is low.
When the body feels tired, the mind foggy, the emotions close to the surface.

And yet, we live in a world that constantly tells us to push through.
To stay positive.
To be strong.
To smile, cope, and keep going.

For women like us, this message is everywhere.

But here’s something I want to say clearly, and without guilt:
It’s okay to not be okay.

Not as a weakness.
Not as a failure.
But as part of being human — and especially part of being a woman navigating midlife, change, responsibility, hormones, work, family, expectations.

We have spent years holding everything together.
Caring for others.
Being reliable.
Being resilient.

And somewhere along the way, many of us learned that resting meant giving up.
That slowing down meant falling behind.
That doing nothing meant we weren’t trying hard enough.

I don’t believe that anymore.

Sometimes the most supportive thing you can do for yourself is to stop pushing.
To stop forcing positivity when it doesn’t feel true.
To stop telling yourself you should be “handling it better”.

Sometimes what your body and nervous system need is space.
Space to breathe.
Space to recover.
Space to simply be.

Doing nothing — really nothing — is not laziness.
It’s not a lack of discipline.
It’s not you failing at life.

It’s recovery.

It’s your system asking for a pause so it can recalibrate.
It’s your body communicating, not betraying you.

We are not machines designed to perform endlessly.
And we are certainly not meant to live in a constant state of “strong”.

Strength, at this stage of life, often looks quieter.
It looks like listening.
Like adjusting.
Like allowing yourself to rest without justifying it.

And no — that doesn’t mean giving up on movement, health, or progress.
It means understanding that health is not built through force, but through respect.

There will be days when movement feels good and energising.
And days when rest is the most intelligent choice you can make.

There will be moments when positivity comes naturally.
And moments when honesty is more healing than optimism.

You don’t have to override your reality to be worthy.
You don’t have to stay upbeat to be valid.
You don’t have to “power through” to prove your strength.

For women like us, learning to give ourselves grace is not indulgence.
It’s necessary.

Grace looks like letting go of unrealistic expectations.
It looks like trusting your body’s signals.
It looks like understanding that slowing down today can help you show up better tomorrow.

If today is a low day, let it be a low day.
Not forever.
Just today.

You are not broken.
You are not weak.
You are not failing.

You are human.
And you are allowed to take care of yourself — even when that means resting, pausing, or doing less.

That, too, is strength.