Before I Healed, I Couldn’t Sit Still : And maybe that’s your story too.

Before I really started healing, I didn’t know how to rest.
Not the kind where your body is on the couch but your brain is sprinting. I mean real rest — where you feel safe enough to pause without guilt.

I used to feel like I had to earn my rest. Five minutes of stillness? Only if I’d been productive. I gave to everyone — friends, my kids, my partner — and left myself with scraps. If I wasn’t doing something for someone else, I felt selfish. Lazy. Weak. Like I wasn’t enough.

Let’s be clear:
That’s not selflessness — that’s self-abandonment. And women do it every damn day.

So I started unlearning.

It wasn’t pretty. But it was honest.
I started journaling again.
I started listening to the voice in me that was exhausted from proving.
I built boundaries. I got quiet. I stopped explaining myself.

Now?

I take time for myself every morning. I journal — even if the page is messy or I don’t know what to say. I walk — not to burn calories, but to return to myself. I stay off my phone more. And I make an intentional, conscious effort to focus on what matters to me — not the outside noise.

I used to worry a lot about how I came across. Would this offend someone? Will they still like me if I say what I really think?

Now? I say the thing out loud.

That’s one of the things people say to me the most — “You’re just so real.” I don’t sugarcoat. I don’t perform. If it needs to be said, I’ll say it — with love, fire, and truth.

And listen — I think I’m funny.
I’ve learned to laugh at the hard stuff, crack jokes in dark moments, and bring levity into rooms where people are used to holding their breath. Humor isn’t a mask for me — it’s medicine.
It’s one of the ways I’ve survived, connected, and stayed human.

So if you’re someone who…
    •    Can’t sit still without guilt
    •    Feels like you always have to be “on”
    •    Spends too much energy worrying what others think
    •    Has a hard time saying no without explaining yourself

I see you. You’re not broken. You’re just exhausted from being everything for everyone. But you don’t have to stay there.

Healing doesn’t make you soft.
It makes you real.
It makes you whole.
It helps you finally come back home to yourself — without apologizing for who you’ve become.


❤️ Jamie
Real. Bold. Unfiltered as hell.

STG Wellness was founded by licensed clinical social worker Jamie Codispoti.

We create bold, therapist-crafted guided journals to help you reflect, reconnect, and reclaim your voice.

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Learn more at sloanetherapygroup.com