The Day I Stopped Being Everyone's 911
Looking back now, I can trace the exact moment my soul got tired. Not the everyday tiredness that comes with long weeks or busy schedules. No, this was bone-deep exhaustion — the kind that settles into your spirit after years of trying to be everything to everyone. You don't notice it happening at first. It creeps up slowly, disguised as dedication, as being "the reliable one," until one day, you wake up and barely recognize the person staring back at you in the mirror.
Years of being everyone's emergency responder taught me this the hard way. You know the type—the friend who drops everything when someone else's poor planning becomes their "urgent crisis." I wore that badge proudly until I realized I was leaving myself exposed to every emotional storm that came my way.
It's wild how we convince ourselves that being available 24/7 makes us good people. Martyring ourselves on the altar of other people's chaos is some virtue. I had turned myself into a human safety net, and let me tell you—that net was starting to fray.
I see my past self in many clients, but none more clearly than in “Maria”. Watching her walk into our first session was like looking into a time mirror. The exact hyper-vigilant grip on her phone that I once had. That familiar tension rang through her shoulders, reaching up to touch her ears — a posture I knew intimately. When she whispered, "I can't keep doing this. Everyone needs me constantly," I could have sworn I heard my voice years ago. Her body spoke the same language mine once had — the constant checking of notifications, the startle response to every buzz, the way her entire being seemed to hum with other people's emergencies. Through our work together, I witnessed the exact transformation I had experienced. Week by week, her shoulders began to drop, her breathing deepened, and slowly, that genuine smile I recognized from my journey began to return.
This is where somatic and mindfulness can become your compass in the storm. Your body has been speaking through tension, sleepless nights, and that knot in your stomach. You are learning to listen to the body's signal and self-soothe the nervous system's dysregulation.
Through mindful awareness, you recognize the subtle ways your body responds to boundary violations. That tightness in your chest when you're about to say yes to something your soul is screaming no to, or the shallow breathing when overextending yourself—these aren't just physical sensations—they're your inner wisdom speaking.
Your nervous system knows the truth of what you need. You can reclaim your right to prioritize your well-being through somatic practices, breathwork, and mindful movement. It's not just about saying no—it's about feeling, in your bones, that you deserve to prioritize your well-being. And in that embodied knowing lies true freedom.
Healing Arts Center is located in Virginia Beach, Virginia. I offer somatic, mindfulness, medical hypnotherapy, meditative writing, breathwork, and trauma-informed Reiki.
