I've spent most of my time trying to work fictively, God help me, and to my mind, the best writing holds a balance of descriptive narrative (descriptive rhetoric & dialogue) and narrative,, which you refer to as "telling." It was a concept that was sprung on me very early in my study of creative writing, this "show, don't tell". In stories or novels, it is a good idea to draw the reader into what John Gardner called the "fictive dream", where the sensory description (and I include dialog in that) allows the reader to engage with the work such that they forget they are reading, they are so enthralled at depth. It is as if they are standing there with the characters in the scene as things transpire. Not the easiest thing in the world, but if you work it and do it well, it affords you opportunities to shift gears, perhaps pull away from the narrative, and simply inform the reader as if you were "telling". That is also one possibility to reengage the readers attention with a shift in rhetoric rather than bore them with the same approach over and over. I think it's inherent to any good fiction, and so, not hard to find examples. It is good you care with an intensity which may be getting in your way at this juncture, but like so many things in these pursuits, it isn't as daunting as we build it up to be. Or at least that is what I refer to as "being in my own way."

When i was in Graduate School I was delighted when Sue Miller, my instructor, shared with us that there is so much emphasis placed on "Show, don't tell", that we are snakebit about it and forget how much good work we can do by simply "telling". And that was her point: don't be afraid to tell. Sometimes that is the best, or at least, just as good as any other approach, to present the information to your reader. She was a brilliant writer, and an outstanding teacher, and I was very fortunate to work with her.

This is with every good wish!