Learning To Feel It All

Oct 13

3 min read

September 9, 2026

by Shelley

Today was a long day.

I woke up before the kids for once and just sat in silence.

Actual silence.

No one asking me for a snack. No one yelling “MOM.” No work emails. No one needing anything from me.

It was glorious.

Once my son woke up, we did our morning routine and headed out the door. And somewhere in the middle of the day, I just felt…blah.

I love fall. I love the change. I love watching the leaves turn, the cooler air, the cozy mornings and obviously, you already know I love any excuse to pull out a good pair of boots.

But every once in a while, I get this little touch of sadness. That heavy, burnt-out feeling where nothing is necessarily wrong, but I don't quite feel like myself either.

Normally, I try to pull myself out of it almost immediately.

But today, it was a little harder.

And as usual, that got me thinking.

The last few weeks have brought some serious changes into my life. Things I've prayed about are starting to align. God is opening doors, closing others, removing things from me and showing me where my attention needs to go next.

And I finally thought...

Girl. No wonder you're tired.

I've been making a conscious effort to be more intentional with my children. I'm learning to leave work at work. I'm focusing on what I want the next chapter of my life to look like while still handling everything required of me in this one.

That's a lot.

Especially for someone whose brain constantly has approximately 37 tabs open. One is frozen. Three are buffering. I have absolutely no idea where the music is coming from, but it's LOUD.

But tonight I realized something else.

I'm grateful that I can feel all of it.

The stillness.

The happiness.

The excitement.

The quiet.

And yes, even the sadness.

There was a time in my life when I didn't want to feel anything. I numbed every emotion I possibly could.

When I changed my life five years ago, I had to learn how to feel again. I had to learn how to sit with uncomfortable emotions instead of immediately trying to escape them.

And let me tell you....that was HARD.

Some days, it still is.

But I'm learning that not every uncomfortable emotion needs to be fixed.

Sometimes sadness is simply sadness.

Sometimes you're grieving a chapter while simultaneously being excited about the next one.

Sometimes you're exhausted because the things you've been praying for require you to grow into a version of yourself you've never been before.

God doesn't always answer our prayers by dropping something perfectly packaged into our laps. Sometimes the answer requires work. Sometimes it requires patience. Sometimes it requires letting go.

And sometimes the blessing itself comes with a little sadness because you know something else has to end for something new to begin.

I can be sad that a chapter of my life is closing and still be incredibly grateful for what's coming next.

Both can exist.

I don't have to rush myself through one emotion just because I'd rather be feeling another.

Maybe that's part of growth, too.

Learning to sit in the quiet. Learning to feel what I feel. Learning that a hard day doesn't mean I'm going backward.

It just means I'm human.

So whatever tomorrow brings....the chaos, the stillness, the happiness, the sadness, or all 37 tabs opening at once....I'm going to walk into it as the best version of myself I can be.

And because it's fall...

I'm obviously walking into it in a hot pair of boots. 😉