YOU are the breadwinner. The one who cannot afford to miss work to keep the family healthy and happy. The one who carries others’ burdens and solves problems on demand. The first to arrive and last to leave, the person who manages all emotional baggage and cannot show a hint of weakness.
You need to take a break. Especially in this season, this break is not just an ordinary rest but physical and mental restoration, emotional release, and self-evaluation. You may be the ‘strongest’ person in your eyes, but even the most resilient will crumble if not cared for.
Invincibility, a total illusion
When shown constantly for the sake of appearances, strength can become an armor that weighs you down instead of protecting you. Showing it may make people lean on you, expecting that you are always welcome to hear about their problems. This, while they forget to ask how you are doing.
“Parang nakakalimutan ka nila,” Gabbi Usman, 26, told republicasia.
To Gabbi, no one is immune from emotional fatigue. “Pagod ka na from work tapos pag-uwi mo lalapitan ka pa ng friends or family to help them with something,” she said. Admitting that while it doesn’t take ten minutes to help them with their problems, Gabbi said the constant requests chipped away at her strength.
“It’s not like ayaw kong tumulong. It’s just, pahingi muna ng time to rest, ‘di ba, so I can deal with you later,” she said. “Akala kasi nila parati akong ready 100%, e need ko rin naman ng pangangamusta man lang on how I’m doing.”
Working in a manufacturing company, Gabbi said the long shifts made her feel like a robot. “Nakakalunod siya in a sense na, like, ‘di ka dapat magkamali kasi this is your job and you have to secure it for your future,” she said.
Fortunately for Gabbi, realizing she is only human helped her accept that she isn’t always at her best. “It’s part of my acceptance na it’s beyond me na if ‘di na ako nakakatulog because of it,” she said.
Invincibility is not always realistic for people like Gabbi. Some might feel like drowning trying to help others, sacrificing their emotions while nothing is left of them. However, accepting our vulnerabilities only strengthens our resolve and helps us realize that falling apart may be a way to fix ourselves.
Resting slowly is strengthening quickly
True strength isn’t about not falling but knowing when to pause and rebuild slowly.
“[K]nowing myself, if I keep my stress bottled up, it will definitely affect my productivity,” senior journalism student Krizzia Mae Cundangan, 21, shared with republicasia.
“In school, what usually stresses me out is when there are so many deadlines, and then, mago-overlap siya with personal battles,” she said. “So kapag nagsasabay ang stress sa school and sa life, mahirap.”
Releasing her stress healthily helped Krizzia clear her mind and thoughts. “I usually watch K-dramas or listen to music. O kaya, ‘pag hindi na kaya sarilihin, nire-release ko sa mga close friends ko,” she said.
Krizzia added that journaling helps her track where her stress comes from, “like mapping the roots of it,” while managing time and staying firm is important while experiencing personal struggles.
By resting, we renew energy and clarity, improving our capacity for creativity and compassion to others. Admitting that you need to do so is also brave and proves that you accept yourself enough to know your limits, especially when you cannot face it alone.
Resting elevates self-worth
When people take rest seriously, they model healthier behavior for others. This shows that rest isn’t laziness but a necessary process to understand that working to the point of burning out is not a seal of success.
People also deepen their emotional self-awareness, offering time to reflect, process, and grow with themselves to internalize what extends our ability to lead, create better opportunities, and be more productive.
“May chance din na mag-step up ‘yong iba kasi baka akala nila ikaw lang may kayang gumawa no’n,” Gabbi said, referring to breaking her public image as the sole person capable of exerting more effort in her workplace.
Meanwhile, Krizzia said that while we shouldn’t abuse and gaslight ourselves over it, the challenges brought by stress “can help people grow.”
It will get better
Gone are the days when all we do during summer break is watch TV and play outside with our friends all day. Instead of toys and sleepovers, we now juggle deadlines and deliverables to seemingly no end.
While this season may be just like any other day in the lives of some, it should never lose its significance, which once brought excitement and thrill to our youth. Resting at this time means unwinding however we can.
People should not let their bodies give up before realizing how important taking a break is. There is no such thing as asking for permission to heal yourself, especially when burnout offers nothing but worse results.
“Cliché, pero go lang nang go until ‘sumakses’ tayo. Hindi naman forever ganito and we have our loved ones naman para mag-grow and learn together,” Gabbi said.
“I know it’s hard not to be stressed about anything. But when stress overwhelms us, don’t forget to pause and breathe for a while. Hindi masamang ipahinga ang puso at isip,” Krizzia wrote. “Do things that make you feel light and happy.”
