Marbles

Alice Ranker
Aug 3
3 min read

This week I was catching up with one of my dearest friends. It had been a while since our schedules aligned long enough for a proper conversation. (Sound familiar?) As she began sharing what had been going on in her world—all the moving pieces, plans that didn’t work out, little mishaps—I noticed a pattern in her words. She kept saying, “and this isn’t a big deal.” And individually, each thing wasn’t. But collectively, it was.

You know those weeks or even months when life just keeps happening—all at once. You back into your spouse’s car. The freezer goes out the night before a bulk grocery delivery. The upstairs AC stops working during a heatwave. Your appointment runs way longer than expected. You know this season. In fact, some of you may have held your breath just reading that list because it hits a little too close to home.

Now, any one of those situations on its own, we can usually handle. Maybe not gracefully, but we find a way because we’re resilient. Still, that doesn’t mean they’re not stressful. And when all of those things land in the same month—or even the same week—it’s a lot.

As I listened to her, I wanted to offer space to breathe and a little validation. I heard myself say, “You can carry one marble. No big deal. But try to carry 100 marbles? That’s heavy.”That image stayed with me.

Most of us live day-to-day with so little margin that we just keep moving, unaware of the toll it’s taking. We push through, telling ourselves that it’s not a big deal—but it adds up. And before we know it, our nervous system is maxed out, and we haven’t had the recovery time necessary to reset, let alone reassess, or to rest properly.

And honestly, many of us were raised in a world that valued production over presence. Life was about getting things done. The goal? Accomplishment. Completion. As if there were some invisible prize for checking off the most boxes. I see it often in my clients—and in myself. But the only real “prize” at the end of that kind of day is survival… and that’s not enough for a life well-lived.

Here’s where I’ve started to shift: I want to become aware of my body—what she’s holding, what she needs, how she’s reacting to the curveballs of everyday life. I want to quickly recognize the signs of stress and overwhelm so I can pause, reflect, and renegotiate what truly matters in the moment. I want to practice the kind of language that helps me name what I’m experiencing:

“I feel overwhelmed.”

“I need a moment to step away.”

That’s where the work begins.

feel free to screenshot this image as a reminder

Awareness is the first marble we choose to pick up with intention. When we stop, even briefly, to acknowledge our stress, we start shifting from simply reacting to life to responding to it. This doesn’t happen overnight. It’s a mindset we develop with time, compassion, and practice. The goal isn’t to eliminate the marbles—but to notice when our hands are full and learn how to carry them differently.

Eventually, this process becomes more natural—not because life stops being hard, but because we stop pretending it’s not heavy.

Let this be your invitation to pause, name what you’re carrying, and offer yourself the space to breathe.

You don’t have to carry all 100 marbles alone. Wishing you a marble-light week ahead.

Much love,