Week 48: When Coping Feels Out of Reach

It has been almost a month since my last post. Over these weeks, I’ve sat down so many times to write – to share something grounding, hopeful, or useful. But each time, the words felt hollow or forced.

I’ve been wondering why it feels this way. The world continues to feel heavy. Many people are navigating profound personal distress while also carrying the weight of everything happening in our communities and the wider world. In these times, the strategies I usually share – to ground, to soothe, to find small light – have felt insufficient.

So I paused… I didn’t want to write just to keep up with the weeks. I wanted to write something that feels honest and real. Because here is what’s true right now:

Sometimes, coping itself feels out of reach. Sometimes, we don’t have the energy to reframe, to practice radical acceptance, or to do the things that usually help. Sometimes, all we can do is keep breathing and take the next small step – and that is enough.

If your usual ways of coping feel distant or ineffective, you are not failing. You are not broken. You are responding like a human to a very human level of pain and overwhelm.

On days like these, it isn’t about thriving, reframing, or forcing hope. It’s about staying present, in whatever small way you can. Staying with yourself with as much kindness as you can find. Staying alive. Staying hydrated. Staying loosely connected to someone or something that reminds you that you matter, even if it’s hard to feel that right now.

I’m writing this to remind myself, as much as you, that coping is not a performance. It is not about appearing resilient. Sometimes, coping is simply making it to tomorrow, or even to the next hour, without expecting yourself to feel okay.

I will continue writing these posts, though they may not arrive every week at this time. I want them to be honest reflections rather than routine checklists.