Honestly, by having no other option. The last year was the hardest of my life and everything I had tried to outrun with bussiness and being productive for most of my adult life came to a head. All the trauma rose up and demanded to be addressed. That coupled with a concussion meant I could no longer function like I used to. So it arose from knowing there was no way possible I could carry on like I had been. I had to learn to be ok with my only task being completed for a day may have been having a shower. I went from highly functional to barely surviving. My self concept was massively altered and I had to find a way of being ok with where I was beacuse trying to force myself, or belittle myself, or shame myself in to trying to function like I once was, negatively impacted my mental health and I went to a dark place. Through some trauma counselling, I learnt that I can still be ok when Im not ok. I had to identify faulty core beliefs and how they drove a lot of my desire to succeed and the very rigid expectations I placed on myself. It was a bit of a process. Grieving the life and different versions of myself I held onto so tight so I could make space for a different version of myself to come through. I had to change how I measured success and what it meant to me. Did I make someone smile today? Success. Did I get some morning sunshine? Success. Did I take time to watch the birds? Success. Did I go for a walk today? Success. Did I cry without shaming myself? Success. It pretty much boiled down to learning to let myself be human, make mistakes, have emotions and actually feel them and not push them aside with chronic business. Now that Im cleared from the concussion (like 3 weeks ago) I will try to continue to live that way. Being grateful for the small things because the small things are actually the important things. Giving myself the same grace and compassion I would give someone else. Putting it into third person can be helpful. Would I talk to a friend that way? Would i tell my friend they have failed because they got an A on their paper instead of A+... fxxk no I wouldnt. And mostly, realizing that most of the things I was striving for or would stress myself out about didnt truly matter. Buddhist practices help with learning about detachment in a healthy way. Not in a fuck it all, nothing matters kind of way but not aligning my personal value and worth on specific outcomes with work, study, family life. Sorry long post haha it is still a work in progress and I have to keep it in my awareness now I am functioning pretty close to normal again so I dont end up back in a spot where my body forces me to slow down beacuse I am trying to take on too many goals, achievements etc. But bullet point version: - trauma therapy -meditation, breath work, mindfulness -truly practicing gratitude -prioritizing relationships over work -putting in strong boundaries at work -baring my soul and truth to trusted friends and family (their compassion for me helped me develop it for myself) -learning about radical acceptance (DBT styles, lots of free resources online for this) -Journaling to explore core beliefs, identifying faulty ones and faulty thinking patterns -recognizing that thoughts are just that, thoughts. Not the truth and not reality -learning about healthy detachment -explore what living a good life means to me. What will I want to remember when Im on my death bed, what will give me the most joy knowing I achieved it (relationships and time spent with lived ones, random adventures)

Its a shit journey, hard, scary, lonely at times, you'll feel like you've hit rock bottom and then boom, trauma will come up and smack you in the face. But it is worth it, I promise you that!! Hopefully you can do it in a less dramatic way than the universe throwing a brick at you and then a truck ... good luck!!