You’re Not Broken, You’re Just Tired As Fuck
You drag yourself through the door like you just fought a war nobody saw
Shoes in one hand, keys in the other
breathing in short clipped bursts, Drop your bag
stare at the wall for a full minute
then whisper “I think something is wrong with me
” You list every task you did not do
every text you did not answer
every mess you left to be.
You talk about everyone else who seems to manage work and bills and sleep like it is nothing at all
How you need three days in bed just to recover from two days of pretending you are fine at work
dodging every extra call
You say “I do not know why I cannot keep up
why everything feels like wading through wet cement
” I look at your calendar, your unpaid time off
your family texts
and think of all the ways you are spent.
You have been carrying grief, fear, money stress
old trauma
and new bad news on shoulders that never got a break
Then you blame yourself for stumbling under a load that would knock down a tower
call your own need for rest a mistake
No wonder your tank is empty
no wonder every little request feels like too much to take.
You are not broken, you are just tired as fuck
worn down to the bone by a world that keeps asking for more
Your engine is fine, it is the road that is poison
full of potholes and tolls and idiots blocking every door
You are not weak for needing to sit down
not flawed for wanting to cry on the kitchen floor
You are not broken, you are just tired as fuck
and tired people deserve rest, not war.
You say “I used to do more, used to be sharper, faster
lighter on my feet
” Forget that back then you were not juggling half this shit
not watching the news scroll death and disaster on repeat
You measure yourself against the person who did not know these losses
did not carry these scars
Then call the current you a failure for limping with weights they never had to haul this far.
I see someone who still turns up for their people
who remembers birthdays
who brings snacks to appointments they dread
Someone who answers calls from friends in crisis even when their own battery is flashing red
If that is broken
then the word has lost all meaning in my head.
You are not broken, you are just tired as fuck
worn down to the bone by a world that keeps asking for more
Your engine is fine, it is the road that is poison
full of potholes and tolls and idiots blocking every door
You are not weak for needing to sit down
not flawed for wanting to cry on the kitchen floor
You are not broken, you are just tired as fuck
and tired people deserve rest, not war.
Here is the wild thought I hand you like a blanket and a cup of something warm in the dark
What if you do not need fixing, just a nap, a break
a day where nobody demands your spark
What if healing looks less like reinvention and more like walking slower
saying no, lowering the bar
What if you are already enough, right now, in this body
with this brain, under these stars.
You are not broken, you are just tired as fuck
and that is not a character flaw
that is a symptom of living through this mess
You can lie down without apologizing
you can turn your phone off, you can say “I cannot
not today, ” and still be doing your best
You are not broken, you are just tired as fuck
and anyone who calls you weak for that can step off your chest
You are not broken, you are just tired as fuck
and you do not have to earn rest.
Next time your mouth starts to say “I am broken
” stop halfway, switch the line mid breath
Say “I am tired as fuck and I need care
” and let that be the truth you choose instead of slow self death.