I'm 66 and I've realized that there's a specific kind of exhaustion that belongs to people who spent four decades being the one who always said yes - it doesn't show up as burnout, it shows up as a faint feeling that your life belongs to everyone except you - Silicon Canals

"Burnout is what happens when the fire goes out. What I'm describing is worse: it's realizing the fire was never yours to light in the first place."

"There's this hollowness, like I'm walking through rooms in my own life as a visitor. My own preferences feel like a foreign language."

"You show up. No matter what. Sick kid at home? You show up. Marriage falling apart? You show up."

"People-pleasing is a behavioral pattern where individuals prioritize others' needs, desires and approval over their own well-being."

Burnout is often misunderstood as the primary issue, but it is a symptom of deeper problems related to personal agency. The experience of feeling hollow and disconnected arises from a lifetime of prioritizing others' needs over one's own. This pattern of people-pleasing leads to a loss of self-identity and preferences. The realization comes not from therapy but from personal reflection, highlighting the importance of reclaiming one's time and choices after years of being available for others.

Read at Silicon Canals