When it all feels like too much

The Artemis II mission snuck up on me. But in a good way. It's been a quiet distraction among the abysmal news of this world. When I feel overwhelmed, frustrated and sad, I reach for things that make me laugh.

At the beginning of Apollo 13, a group gathers to watch the Apollo 11 crew land on the moon. After the party, Kathleen Quinlan’s character, Marilyn Lovell, tells her husband—Tom Hanks’ Jim Lovell—that she doesn’t want to clean up.

“Let’s just sell the house,” she says. That always cracks me up. How often have you felt that way?

Not just about your house—but about your life.
Your responsibilities.
Your money.

That moment where it all feels like too much, and the easiest solution would be to just… walk away.

The all-or-nothing trap

My house is a bit like that right now.

I wasn’t able to do much while recovering from surgery, so things piled up. And now that I can do more, I find myself standing in the middle of it thinking—

I don’t even know where to start.

And instead of starting somewhere, I feel the pull to do nothing at all.

Not because I don’t care.
But because it feels like too much to care about all at once.

Money stress doesn’t stay on paper—it shows up in moments like this.

That all-or-nothing thinking shows up quickly.

I think, If I can’t do it all, perfectly… why do anything?

And the truth is, I know better. I’m a mental health professional. I talk about these patterns all the time. But knowing doesn’t make you immune.

Overwhelm still shows up.
So does fear—especially when everything feels more expensive and uncertain.
So does that stuck, frozen feeling where even small decisions feel heavy.

The usual advice is to start small.

And it’s good advice.

But sometimes, even that feels like too much.

Try this first - find your hope

Sometimes, what comes before “start small" is something quieter.

🌿 Looking out the window and noticing the trees are a little greener than they were last week.
🌿 Letting yourself laugh when you’re searching for your phone… while talking on it. (Please tell me that’s not just me.)

Letting a small moment be enough. Find something that makes you feel hope, joy, gratitude.

Because in those moments, something shifts—just slightly.

And from there, maybe later, you pick one small thing. Or maybe you don’t. Not yet.

Give yourself permission to pause

Sometimes the most helpful thing you can do is pause without turning it into a problem. This is a form of self-care.

To rest without needing to justify it.
To say, “I’ll come back to this.”​
And trust that you will.

A slower kind of change

Spring is starting to show up again.

Not all at once—but slowly.

☀️ A little warmer.
☀️ A little lighter.
☀️ A reminder that things don’t change in one big moment—they shift over time.

Maybe the goal isn’t to fix everything right now—just to stay long enough for things to shift.

Not fixing everything.
Not starting over.
Just staying.

Taking things as they come.
Letting small moments count.

And trusting that you’ll find your way forward—even if it doesn’t happen all at once.

As I watch the updates of the Artemis II mission, I feel hope.

Warmly,

Litsa

PS - How much do you want to bet I'll watch Apollo 13 later. 🚀🙂