More than four years have passed since the start of the COVID-19 epidemic, and the journey has been quite unique. These years have been difficult, stressful, perplexing, and terrible, yet we continue to persevere. However, the continuation phase isn’t as simple as it initially appears.

We’ve sort of chosen to go on regardless of what happens. This year’s experiment in normality lacked a tested hypothesis or a defined design. This decision has had a significant impact. These days, many individuals feel fatigued, drained, and worn thin (“like butter scraped over too much bread,” as Bilbo Baggins described it).

But why?

Naomi Holdt, a psychologist and speaker, wonderfully addressed why people are feeling so exhausted as we near the end of 2022, and it makes perfect sense. Holdt is a psychologist, author, and lecturer with over 20 years of experience who specializes in the emotional well-being of children and young people. She’s also the author of “How to Raise Resilient Kids and Teens.”

In a Facebook post, she wrote:

“A gentle reminder of why you are completely exhausted…”

Nobody I know started the year fully charged. After a difficult two years, many of us struggled to reach 2021. We were frazzled, tired, and operating on old adrenaline fumes.

We entered 2022 with emotions such as shock, trauma, sadness, weight, and bewilderment—memories of a weird existence.

Then it began. We could not have envisioned a faster hurricane year. This year has been characterized by increased strain, tension, and a scramble to ‘catch up’ in several fields. Every. Single. One. Managing work, school, sports, relationships, and daily life.

Perhaps we believe that being busy makes us forget more easily… The more readily we can unravel the emotional bundle… The more permanently we remove the scarred wounds…

We cannot.

And attempts to re-create some kind of ‘normal’ on steroids have left our collective mental health in shambles while ignoring the fact that our sympathetic nervous systems were on high alert for over two years. Our kids and teenagers are not exempt. Fighting a storm leads to weariness.

So, before you start questioning your completely spent and drained state, pause. Breathe. Remind yourself of who you are and what you have been through. Then remind yourself of what you’ve conquered.

Despite everything, you’re still going. (Even on the days you slip and end up face-down in a mound of dirt.)

Compassion comes from understanding. Most of the world’s population is in need of some extra TLC right now. Many people wear ‘Handle with Care’ posters and ‘Fragile’ tattoos.

This year, instead of racing to the finish line, practice gentle movement.

Move gently. Find pockets of stillness within the commotion. Find compassion. Allow for healing. And most importantly… be kind. There isn’t a single person on the planet who wouldn’t benefit from a little more of the healing balm of kindness.”

Of course, we are fatigued. We’re like someone who believes they’re feeling better at the end of an illness and dives right back into life, only to crash midday because their body didn’t have as much energy as their brain believed. We attempted to rush back into life, trying to feel normal and make up for lost time, without truly acknowledging the effect of the previous two years or recovering and healing from it.

Of course, life cannot be stopped abruptly, but we must allow time for our bodies, brains, and spirits to recuperate from what they have endured. The unpredictability, the precariousness of “normal,” and the consequences of everything that disrupted life as we knew it are real. The anguish and trauma of individuals who have been through the worst of the epidemic are real. The feeling of being overwhelmed in our minds and hearts as we try to digest everything is genuine.

So, as we embark on another hectic year, let us be patient with one another and with ourselves. We could all use a bit more grace as we work to determine what a real and healthy “normal” feels like.