How to Protect Your Heart When You Feel Like You're Drowning in Gentle Pressure

"Surpass your yesterday's self."
"Only action changes reality."
"Do everything you want to do."

The sparkling, positive words that overflow in our cities.

Isn't there ever a time when words that would normally push you forward instead prick at your heart and cause you pain?

You might even blame yourself, wondering if you are narrow-minded or cynical for feeling that way.

While it seems like everyone around you is moving forward, you feel left behind, wanting to turn your eyes away even from the light of the logical truths extended toward you.

Actually, I used to be like that too.

When I opened social media, all I saw were other people's work achievements and declarations of positive goals.

Feeling the heat of my smartphone against my fingertips while staring at those posts in bed, I felt as if the edges of my heart were being whittled away.

I would just sigh in the darkness, wondering why I couldn't work as hard as everyone else.

Today, please let me talk about the quiet cry of a heart that has become so exhausted it can no longer accept such positive words.

When Positivity Hurts the Heart

Positive words become the strength to move forward when your heart is well-nourished.

However, when your heart is tattered and wounded, they can turn into pressure wearing a gentle face.

To use an analogy, it feels like having hot water forcibly poured onto a scrape.

Or, it is like someone shouting from the shore, "You can swim faster!" while you are desperately trying to swim while drowning.

Because the other person has no ill intent, you cannot reject the truth of their words, and you end up with nowhere to escape.

If you feel like you want to distance yourself from positive words right now, it is proof that your heart is desperately trying to protect you, saying, "I don't want to be hurt any more than this."

That reaction is very natural and healthy.

Why Correct Words Hurt

When there is a large gap between a person's current state and the words directed at them, they unconsciously feel as though they themselves are being denied.

The first is the gap between you and those sparkling words.

The more you are showered with brilliant words, the more the shadow of yourself, unable to live up to them, stands out in starker contrast.

The second is the loneliness of feeling misunderstood by everyone.

You feel that those who tell you to look forward have no idea about the dark, heavy feelings you have right now, as if you are sinking into the mud.

In that, you see a cold boundary between yourself and others.

The third is the limit of your ability to keep trying.

When you are already giving everything you have, being asked for even more positivity becomes a heavy burden, like having your last protective charm taken away.

The reason these words pierce your heart is that you have been trying so sincerely to live up to someone's expectations or the 'right' things to say.

It is okay to be in the quiet darkness for now.

If the light outside is too bright and hurts your eyes, there is no need to force them open. Darkness is by no means a bad place.

It is a quiet, safe shelter where you can slowly rest your wounded heart.

There is no need to force yourself to look forward.

For now, it is fine to just keep looking down and stare at the stillness at your feet.

Please, give yourself permission to do just that.

Trying to force yourself to be positive is like trying to rapidly raise a body temperature that has gone cold.

First, let's gently embrace the coldness you feel right now, just as it is.

Believe in the warmth of a gentle touch rather than words.

When you are exhausted, what you need is not someone's wonderful quote or a concrete solution.

Isn't it just the presence of someone sitting quietly by your side, saying, 'I know, it's tough, isn't it?'

It is okay if you don't try to solve anything with words.

Just be there and feel the present moment.

The warmth in your throat when you drink warm water.

The soft touch of your bedding. The sound of quiet rain heard from outside the window.

Try to feel only the warmth that exists as it is, without needing to hold any meaning.

Please do not hate yourself for not being able to be positive.

Let us slowly untie the knots in your heart that tell you that you must look forward.

While being blown by the quiet breeze coming in through the window, you can let the hazy feelings accumulated in your chest flow out little by little.

It is okay if you cannot look forward right away.

For now, I just hope that your wounded heart will be gently protected without being worn down any further by someone else's standards.

Please give yourself a little permission for having made it through today.

Thank you for reading until the end.

If you resonated with this article, I would be happy if you could gently press the 'like' button to let me know.

Well then, I will see you in the next article.