02/02/2026
From a Life Counselor -
Russell Taylor
There is a physical toll that comes from carrying other people’s burdens for too long. It’s not just emotional, it shows up in your body.
Whether you are caring for elderly parents, supporting children, holding space for a struggling colleague or friend, or simply being the person everyone depends on, at home, at work, wherever…
It doesn’t just affect your mind. It affects how you sleep, how you breathe, how you recover, and how safe and comfortable you feel in your own skin.
It shows up in ways people rarely connect back to what they’re holding.
Tightness in your chest, a nervous system that never fully relaxes. Exhaustion that sleep doesn’t fix. Headaches, stomach issues, aching shoulders. Hypervigilance, feeling emotionally full and physically empty.
Sometimes you don’t even realise how much you are carrying until your body starts to speak for you.
I have seen this in leaders, in carers, and in the people who everyone calls “strong”. And I have had my own seasons where I could keep showing up, keep delivering, keep holding the room… and my body was quietly telling the truth long before my mind was ready to admit it.
Because we were never designed to carry everything alone.
Being strong does not mean being endlessly available. Being kind does not mean absorbing everyone else’s pain. And being the reliable one should not come at the cost of your health.
So if you are someone who carries a lot, please hear this...
You are allowed to pause.
You are allowed to put some of it down.
You are allowed to be a work in progress.
And... you can still care deeply, without disappearing in the process.
And if you needed someone to say that to you today, here it is.
You matter too.
Russell Taylor