Resilient Living #1 – Present Day
Five years in, this is the biggest lesson I live by: I protect my peace like it’s sacred, because it is.
I’ve always been an empath. I walk into a room and feel everything: joy, grief, anger, chaos. After Alex left, that gift turned into a curse. Every hug from a grieving friend, every tear-soaked conversation, every “how are you” felt like a wave crashing over me. In the beginning, I thought absorbing everyone’s pain was love. I wanted to fix them. I wanted to hold all of Alex’s friends so close that maybe, just maybe, I could still hold him.
But I learned the hard way: It is not my job to fix problems I didn’t create. Science backs it up; cortisol literally seeps through pores and can be absorbed through skin contact or shared air. One long hug from someone drowning in stress can flood my system for hours. I’ve felt it. I’ve crashed because of it.
So I changed the rules.
Now when I walk in and the energy is heavy or off, I keep my distance. I can still love from across the room. I can still listen, empathize, offer a kind word; but I don’t let it live inside me. I don’t carry it home in my bones.
I had to learn this the hard way; through people-pleasing crashes, resentment, and burnout. I used to think boundaries made me cold. Now I know they make me safe. They make me present for Lacie and her boys when they need a soft place to land, for Faith’s teenage storms, for my team, for the life I’m still building.
Alex is always with me; in the 222s, the eagles, the Jeep that rolls by at the exact right moment. I don’t need to clutch his friends to keep him close. And I know, deep in my soul, that he’s proud of the work I’ve done to protect myself; even when some of those lessons came wrapped in pain.
This is resilient living for me in 2025: Feeling deeply, but not drowning. Loving fiercely, but not losing myself. Holding space; without letting the weight crush me.
Your Turn How do you protect your energy when the room feels heavy? Comment below; I read every one.
Next: “The Evening Routine That Saved My Peace”
#LiveMoreLikeAlex #ResilientLiving #EnergyProtection #BereavedMom #BoundariesAfterLoss #EmpathLife