Returning to Yourself Without Making It a Whole Dramatic Thing

You don’t need to crash and burn to earn a reset.

Sometimes you look up and realize you’ve been on autopilot so long you’re basically a helpful little customer service representative for everyone else’s emotions. Smiling. Nodding. Solving. Managing. Holding it together.

Meanwhile your own brain is like:
“Hey bestie… we live here too.”

If you’ve been feeling off lately—snappy, numb, extra tired, weirdly emotional, overstimulated by literally existing—this is usually what’s going on:

You’ve been overriding yourself.

Saying yes too fast.
Powering through when your body is begging you to sit down.
Being “fine” because it’s easier than explaining what’s really going on.

So here are a few simple ways to start coming back home to you, without making it a 47-step spiritual project:

1) Stop asking “what’s wrong with me?”

Try: “what’s going on with me?”
One is shame.
The other is information.

2) Watch for the tiny ways you ditch yourself

You know the ones:
Agreeing when you don’t want to.
Over-explaining.
Laughing something off that actually bothered you.
Staying quiet to keep it peaceful.

Pick one today.
Do it differently.

3) Ask yourself this like you actually matter (because you do):

“What do I need right now?”

Not what fixes your life. Just right now.

Water? Food? Quiet? A walk? Ten minutes where nobody needs a thing from you?

That counts.
That’s not “being dramatic.” That’s basic maintenance.

4) A big one: urgency is not intuition

Urgency feels like: pressure, panic, mental sprinting.
Intuition feels like: calm, clear, simple.

If your thoughts are running a marathon, don’t call it a “download.”
Call it stress and go drink water like a responsible adult. (I say this with love. And personal experience.)

The bottom line

Coming back to yourself isn’t about reinventing your whole life overnight.

It’s about noticing where you’ve been abandoning yourself… and choosing, in small ways, to stop.

That’s it. That’s the work.

And if you’ve been feeling like you don’t recognize yourself lately?

Good news: you’re still in there.

You’re not lost. You’re tired.
Let’s start there.

-Red, Your Cosmic Doula