January: When Fatigue Crossed a Line
There is always a first time for everything in this world. Not all of them are beautiful. Not all of them are meant to be remembered fondly. Still, they find their way into our lives and ask to be carried. I remembered the most uneasy feeling this month.
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That afternoon, we gathered in the living room like we usually did. Nothing felt unusual. Our child, only two years old sat nearby with a snack in hand, doing what toddlers do best: playing, exploring, testing limits.
I had just finished work. My body was heavy, so I lay down, letting the fatigue settle into my bones. He was tired too. Tired of something I still struggle to name. Sometimes I wonder how exhaustion can be so loud even when days seem empty, but I kept that thought to myself. Our child began tossing bits of food around, laughing. A warning was given. Then another. The warnings didn’t work. Children rarely understand urgency the way adults want them to.
And then something happened, sudden, sharp, and completely unexpected.
A brief flash of pain. Not the kind that lasts on the skin, but the kind that shocks the system. I froze. My mind went quiet. Anger filled the room, directed at me, telling me to pay attention, to do better, to be more alert. I remember thinking, that we were both there. But the thought stayed unspoken. Silence felt safer than words in that moment. Tears came without permission. Not from pain, but from shock. From disbelief. From the realization that exhaustion, when it spills over, can cross lines before anyone realizes they are there.
Almost immediately, regret followed. Words of apology came quickly, clumsily, as if they could rewind time. But something had already shifted inside me.
I picked up my child and went to the kitchen. Not dramatically. Just instinctively. Distance felt necessary. I was afraid, not of what had happened, but of what could happen if we stayed in that space together. The rest of his words faded into noise. My ears rang, then went strangely numb. Maybe that was my mind protecting itself.
That night, the apologies returned, again and again. I said I forgave him. And I meant it, in the way someone chooses peace over conflict. But forgiveness, I learned, does not immediately erase fear. Since then, a quiet unease follows me during the smallest moments. Especially when our child eats. Especially when things get messy. A part of me stays alert, bracing for something I hope will never come again.
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There are still many unfinished tasks from last year. Some are waiting patiently. Others I avoid, not out of laziness, but because energy is a limited thing.
Well, January didn’t give me many beautiful memories. But it gave me awareness of limits, of fatigue, of moments that should never repeat themselves. And maybe that awareness is enough for now.