I still feel guilty when I cancel because I’m tired

Dear Delyara, Even when tiredness is the real answer. Even when staying home is clearly the kinder choice for everyone. Even when I know from experience that forcing myself through social plans in that state only leaves me emptier and slightly false. Still, guilt arrives. It says I should have made the effort. That other people cope. That maybe I’m getting softer in the wrong way. That maybe this is how life shrinks if you let it. I know that voice is cruel. It still sounds convincing in the hour after I cancel. Then the evening passes quietly and I realise relief was the more honest emotion all along.