"You were never lazy. You were fighting invisible battles in your mind and then judging yourself for not moving like someone who was not at war."
How many times have you called yourself lazy when, if you were honest, you were actually exhausted from a war nobody else could see?
“Lazy” is a word many people use when they do not understand their own stuckness. You look at the dishes, the emails, the unfinished dreams, and you see no obvious reason you cannot just get up and do it. So you decide the only explanation is that something is wrong with you. You label it laziness. You pile shame on top of overwhelm and wonder why moving feels even harder.
What rarely gets named is the invisible load you are carrying. The racing thoughts. The constant self-criticism. The anxiety that makes every small task feel like a test you might fail. The depression that drains your energy before the day even starts. When your mind is at war, your body will move like it is walking through mud. That is not a character flaw. That is a nervous system trying to survive.
Calling yourself lazy ignores everything you are fighting inside. It dismisses the nights you did not sleep, the memories that replay on loop, the pressure you feel to hold everything together. If someone else told you they were dealing with what you are holding, you would understand why they are tired. You would not call them weak. Yet you demand from yourself the performance of someone who is not carrying any of that weight.
Healing this starts with changing the story. Instead of, “Why am I so lazy?” try, “What am I carrying that makes this feel so heavy?” That question invites compassion and curiosity instead of attack. It opens the door to support, therapy, medication if needed, better sleep, and kinder expectations. It helps you see that motivation does not grow from shame. It grows from feeling safer, resourced, and less alone in what you are facing.
You do not have to glamorize struggle to be honest about it. You can honor that your brain and body have been in survival mode while also taking small steps to support them. You are allowed to move at the pace of someone who has been through things. You are allowed to ask for help. You were never lazy. You were trying to function in conditions that would have broken a lot of people.
