When Boredom Feels Overwhelming

I never thought I’d say this, but boredom can be one of the hardest things to sit with.

If you’ve ever walked away from something dangerous, chaotic, or all-consuming — whether that was a relationship, a job, or a season of living in survival mode — you probably know what I mean. You expect peace to feel like relief. Instead, sometimes it feels unbearable.

Why? Because when you’ve lived with adrenaline as your constant companion, your nervous system gets wired for intensity. Drama, risk, secrecy, or emotional highs and lows — they all light up your body like a Christmas tree. It’s unsafe, it’s unsustainable, and yet it can feel intoxicating. Walking away from that is necessary for your soul, but the transition? That’s where boredom rushes in like a tidal wave.

And it doesn’t feel like ordinary boredom. It feels like loss.

Your body might stomp its feet like an inner toddler: This is too quiet. This is too calm. I hate this flatness.
Your mind might whisper: Did I make a mistake choosing safe over exciting?

But here’s the truth: boredom in this stage isn’t a sign that you chose wrong. It’s a sign that your nervous system is detoxing.

Think about it like this: if you’ve been running on energy drinks for years, water will taste bland at first. Your body will crave the jolt, even though it was wrecking you from the inside. Safety and calm can feel the same way — bland, even punishing — until your body adjusts.

This is the moment when healing asks the most of you.

It asks you to resist the pull back into chaos just to feel alive.
It asks you to sit with the quiet long enough for your nervous system to relearn what true aliveness feels like.
It asks you to separate excitement from danger.

Because here’s the beautiful secret: boredom isn’t permanent. Once your body has a chance to reset, calm starts to open into something else — space.

Space to notice your own thoughts again.
Space to dream new dreams.
Space to actually enjoy joy — not as a spike of adrenaline, but as a steady presence.

And yes, space to create your own excitement in ways that don’t cost you your soul. Laughter around a table with friends. Trying something creative. Even letting passion show up in your marriage or your work in new, grounded ways.

So if boredom feels overwhelming right now, know this: you’re not broken. You’re healing. Your nervous system is remembering how to breathe without chaos.

And if your inner toddler is stomping her feet, longing for the rush — scoop her up. Tell her: “I know, sweetheart. You miss the fireworks. But we’re building something better now. We’re choosing steady light over burning out.”

Peace doesn’t always feel good at first. But over time, it becomes the soil where real life can grow.

And this is what it means to live Unburdened™:

• To release the weight of chaos and over-functioning.

• To reclaim the steady rhythms of safety and ease.

• To discover that you are not broken, you are unburdening.

 If you’re sitting in that uneasy quiet, know you’re not alone. Come join the Unburdened™ Facebook group — a place where we talk about the messy middle of healing and what it really looks like to build a life of ease.