When the Healing Journey Feels Like a Mountain You’re Climbing With Baggage

If you’ve ever felt like your healing process is… taking longer than it “should”… this is for you.

At the beginning of my healing journey, I thought it would be quick, and efficient. I thought I’d just “fix” a few things, cross some emotional to-do’s off my list, and move on.

Looking back now, I can feel how much pressure I was putting on myself to heal fast and how much baggage I was carrying in the process. Unknowingly forcing myself to transform like it was a task, instead of a tender unfolding.

Healing, as I’ve come to understand it, isn’t a sprint. It’s not even a well-paved trail. It’s a mountain. And for a long time, I tried to climb that mountain with a backpack full of emotional baggage, outdated beliefs, perfectionism, self-imposed timelines, and the pressure to “do it right.”

I thought I had to carry it all. Understand it all. Be five steps ahead of my pain at all times.

And honestly, that made the path so much harder than it needed to be.

There wasn’t one big breakdown or dramatic moment. It was more like a whisper that slowly grew louder, every time I hit a wall, felt emotionally fried, or realized I was stuck in another loop.

Eventually I had to pause and ask myself:

What if I’m not actually stuck? What if I’m just overloaded?

That’s when I started to see the patterns:

✨ The times I pushed too hard, before I was ready
✨ The moments my ego or younger self dug in their heels
✨ The belief that being still meant "not growing"

And then came the invitation I didn’t expect:
To just stop.
To breathe.
To listen.
To let the dust settle and the healing catch up.

Sometimes, the most sacred progress is integration, not forward motion.

Over time and with a lot of gentleness I learned to stop trying to hike with the full emotional weight strapped to my back.

I learned to:

🌿 Take rest stops
🌿 Loosen my grip on what "should" have healed by now
🌿 Drop the expectations that were never mine to carry

And when I did that, everything started to shift.

I could see my path more clearly. I could hear my own inner voice again. I stopped chasing someone else’s version of healing… and began creating my own.

This isn’t the sprint to the top. It’s the winding trail through open paths, dense forests, quiet moments, and unexpected clarity.

The lessons come in strange places.

If you haven't already listened to There Are No Wrong Turns: How to Trust The Map Of Your Healing Journey, invite you to do that now. Healers with Humor Episode 4 of Season 2

Where Shelly and I reflect on how healing is anything but a straight line. Instead of following a set blueprint, our inner guidance leads us on a path filled with unexpected blessings, pit stops, and scenic routes.

Feeling like you’re carrying too much?
Let’s lighten the load together. Book a session or explore my healing programs and take the next step at your own pace with support. Link below