The Lesson I Didn’t Know I Still Needed

It’s January 28th, and to be honest… I’m still wondering where this month went.

I had big, beautiful plans for how I wanted to enter the new year. I was ready to launch, excited to return from the holidays feeling creatively lit up and grounded. But life had other plans.

Just as my son returned to school and I geared up to dive into work—I got sick. Really sick. And I’ve stayed sick for most of this month. Two doctor visits later, I’m finally emerging from the fog, but my body still hasn’t fully caught up.

This wasn’t just a cold. It was a reminder. A reckoning.

In medicine, we were trained to show up no matter what. Pop meds, push through, and get back to work as soon as we weren’t contagious. Rest wasn’t part of the culture. And honestly? That programming doesn’t disappear just because I left clinical practice.

Even as a solopreneur, I caught myself repeating old patterns:
• Trying to “make up” for time lost
• Folding laundry instead of lying down
• Rescheduling all my canceled meetings into one overbooked day
• Pushing through fog to write content that didn’t feel true

And what did that get me? A longer illness. Missed calls. Guilt. Exhaustion. Again.

But today, I finally stopped. I blocked the calendar. I sat in nature. I breathed. I let myself pause, not out of defeat because my body couldn’t keep up, but with intention.

And something magical happened:
• The fog started to lift
• My creativity returned
• The pressure turned into presence
• I remembered that rest isn’t a delay, it’s essential

So today, I’m writing this from a slower place. A more grounded place. A place of trust—which also happens to be my word of the year.

If you’re in a season of slowing down…
If your body is asking for what your mind refuses to allow…
If you’re still learning to give yourself what you so easily give others…

Please know this:
The pause is sacred. The reset is necessary. Your health matters. You matter.

And sometimes, the greatest lesson is patience.

More on my word of the year, TRUST, in the next email. But for now, I’m sending love, warmth, and permission to rest.

With you,
Priyanka

P.S.
I’d love to hear from you.. what does a pause look like for you right now?

Maybe it’s…
• A 2-minute break to breathe between Zoom calls
• Stretching before jumping back into the next task
• Eating lunch without rushing or multitasking (unlike me, who often forgets to schedule lunch at all 🙃)
• Or simply sitting in silence for a moment before bedtime

Hit reply and tell me what your version of “pause” looks like today.
Let’s normalize rest, one tiny act of self-honoring at a time.