Have you ever felt as if there is something on your shoulders?

Well, if you’re anything like me I’m sure you have felt something; a load that’s quite heavy, so big that it may even compare to the metaphorical idea of carrying the weight of the World on your shoulders. Overtime, I have realized that I’m the type of young woman who never gives herself a break. Although I am consciously aware of my tendencies, it’s hard to completely erase this trait from my character. However, as I have gotten a bit older, I have learned a lot about how to deal with my own personality type, and have acquired some words of wisdom that may be of assistance to my fellow young women who often make themselves to feel as if they carry the weight of the World on their shoulders.

Dear female bearer of the Earth,

Let me start off by saying that I get it: I have been an anxiety-ridden, silent-yet-bold Type A girl since as far back as I can remember. Even from times that are considered long ago and therefore when I was far too young to possibly understand the full meaning of personal responsibility, I posses memories of feeling overwhelmed and as if I needed to figure many things out all at once. With this being the case, it’s not hard to tell that this is simply a character trait that is just naturally engrained into my being. Furthermore, the same is probably true when it comes to you, dear reader.

You’ve probably had a lot of people tell you things like “relax,” or “let it go,” or “stop worrying about it so much.” My question in response to that is Why? Why do people think it’s that simple? Put frankly, you are who you are, you think how you think, and you can’t change that. And quite honestly, you shouldn’t. In my eyes, this way of handling things shows that you care immensely about outcomes, and that you pay attention to detail. It’s not easy to find people that give everything 100 percent, so in my eyes, it is a beautiful thing to care so much.

All else aside, including the positives, it’s simply not okay to feel under extreme pressure all of the time. If you’re anything like me, you’ve probably been dubbed your own worst critic, or your own worst enemy. If it’s the truth, you should most definitely accept it. You can’t fix anything if you don’t acknowledge where the stresses are coming from, especially if they are from within. Most of the time, I think people who feel as if they carry this weight are the only ones who have that belief. That is, everyone else thinks they need to ease up on themselves, while the person in question either doesn’t see what they are doing to themselves, or doesn’t know how to relieve the burden of the self-inflicted load that they are forcing themselves to carry.

My advice won’t be anything like an outsider who doesn’t understand, for I know what it feels like to be this type of woman. However, I will say this: It is okay to give yourself a break sometimes without losing your sense of self or your character. Metaphorically speaking, more often than not, it’s quite alright to take the World and put it down for a few moments. Allow yourself to rest your bones and your mind, and realize that you don’t have to have everything figured out all at once, no matter how much you may feel as if you do. You’re going to have those moments where you feel as if everything is crashing down and that you are the one who’s solely responsible to prevent the disaster, and that’s okay. After all, these moments make you who you are, and give you marks of great strength.

In the end, however, you need to realize that you aren’t alone: There’s a lot of women (and people in general) who feel as if they carry the World on their shoulders. If you think of it in these terms, we all have the same job, and it’s probably fair to say that you deserve a break every once in a while. Someone else will pick up the slack for you to help you through, or nature will run its course, and you’re gonna be okay.

Sincerely,

Fellow female bearer of the Earth.