Let It Go to Voicemail

• 2 min reading time

It's the end of August and I am spent.

Not the kind of tired that a few days of snoozing and sofa rotting can fix. This is deeper than that. It's going to take a lot more than a weekend.

It's been compounding for the last 18 months, quietly, until it wasn't quiet anymore. Not to mention I'm at that age where my parents are getting older and, despite their protests, need my help.

To say I'm crawling to the finish line is an understatement, because that would imply steady ground. I'm in quicksand. And more movement means getting pulled under a little faster. Phone calls? A hundred percent quicksand.

Here's something I've learned during this season of my life. If someone calls and doesn't leave a message or follow up with a text or email, I already know what happened. They had a problem they could have solved themselves and decided to spend my time finding the answer instead of their own. The phone rings. I see it. I let it go to voicemail (without declining, because then they'd know).

If you're here reading this, I suspect you're a highly effective, get-it-done-at-all-costs person. You've always been the one who picks up, follows through, shows up and figures it out. People call you first even when you should be their last resort. Especially when you should be their last resort. And for a long time you thought that was a compliment. Competence has its downside.

Protecting your peace is not the busy wellness word of the week. It's a practical strategy for staying sane and having enough gas in the tank for what actually matters. You can't be useful to your community, your board, your block, or your family and friends if you're running on empty and still answering calls from people who didn't bother scrolling up the group text a few times to find the answer sitting right there.

So right now, stop thrashing. Lighten your load. Relax and float. Quicksand is denser than you think, and you can get out safely if you're willing to do the least for now and let it go to voicemail.

They'll figure it out.

- LP
Unavailable But Thriving Nonetheless

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