"Spring Break is for Adults Too"

 Burnout, Beach Chairs, and the Beauty of a Break

As an adult, we've all been going through it in 2025. As a federal employee, this new "way of life" has not been easy. The policies, the pressure, the tone—it’s been heavy. There’s been this lowkey, almost unspoken shift in energy, and it’s felt less like leadership and more like control. Every time I try to get grounded, something else drops. And through it all, we’re just expected to adjust, stay productive, and keep quiet.

And I’ve done that. I’ve shown up, I’ve handled my business, I’ve kept things afloat—but at a cost. The constant stress, the unclear expectations, the feeling like you’re being micromanaged and gaslit at the same time? It wears you down. I’ve been resilient, yeah. But I was also running on fumes.

So I finally gave myself permission to stop. I used my leave, booked a flight, and went to Miami for a few days of real rest. No Teams messages. No policy briefings. No scanning headlines wondering what fresh chaos was coming next. Just me, a beach chair, and some overdue silence.

And let me tell you—I needed that reset more than I realized.

That break hit every part of my wellness I’d been neglecting:
• Physical wellness – I actually slept. Not that fake sleep where you wake up still tired—I mean real rest. The kind that hits your bones.
• Emotional wellness – Being away from the pressure gave me space to actually feel again. To laugh. To release the weight I didn’t even know I’d been carrying.
• Mental wellness – I came back with clarity. Not just about work—but about me. About what I need, what I’m not willing to tolerate, and where I go from here.
• Spiritual wellness – Sitting by the water reminded me that I’m not just part of a system—I’m a whole human being. And I deserve peace.

What I’m learning is this: resilience doesn’t mean staying in survival mode. It means knowing when to pause. When to protect your energy. When to step back before you break.

So if you’ve been feeling that pressure too—if this new era has you feeling overlooked, overworked, and undervalued—this is your reminder: you don’t need permission to take care of yourself. Book the trip. Use your leave. Say no. Disconnect. Reclaim your space.

Because you’re not a machine. You’re a person. And you matter—regardless of who’s in charge.