“What do you do when you feel like the world is just so terrible and everything is hard?”

“What do you do when you feel like the world is just so terrible and everything is hard?”

I had a friend call me late one night recently.
“Just to say hello.”

But I heard something in between, in the quiet moments.
The pauses between their words.

So I made space for them to share:
"what’s new with you?"

They let out this long breath, and their thoughts began to spill.
Loss.
Exhaustion.
Major life changes.
Grief.
A sense that the world is fraying at the edges.
And maybe they were losing hold of it all.

And that’s when they asked,
“What do you do when you feel like the world is just so terrible and everything is hard?”

Whew.
I did not have a ready answer.

I did my best to sit with them, with honesty, to acknowledge how hard overwhelm feels.
I could feel it wasn’t a moment for fixing.

I tried to think of what I actually do when I feel overwhelmed.
I came up with a few to share with them…
> I look at the world and remind myself how little power I have to change most things.
> I look at me, my life, and try to notice what I can control or change
> I reach out to other humans to talk, connect (just like they did to call me!)
> I cry, a lot if I need to - letting it out can feel so cleansing
> I laugh, especially if the moment calls for some quality dark humor
> I try to do something small and kind for another person

I am not sure what else I shared, but those are the few I remember.
Plus I shared a few examples of dark humor… 😉

I honestly don’t know if it helped.
We had a few chuckles.
They said thank you for listening when we ended the call.

I hope, at least, I helped them feel a little less alone.

But now I’m asking you all:
What do you do when it all feels like too much?

What helps you keep going, even when the world feels heavy?

Let’s create a collection.
Because next time my friend calls I want to be ready with a list of ideas. ❤️