There’s this kind of silence that often surrounds the strong ones.
We’re the people who carry what needs to be carried, solve what needs to be fixed, and stay composed even when something inside us begins to quietly break. And when the crash inevitably happens, we hide it. We survive it. Then we move on, or at least try to.
Reading The Strong Gets Tired Too by Joena San Diego felt like someone saw past the exterior. Like someone gently whispered, “You’re allowed to sit down now.”
This isn’t just another self-help book. It’s a mirror for the over-functioning, a journal for the quietly tired, and a devotional for the soul that’s been strong for far too long. If you’ve ever whispered “I can’t do this anymore” to yourself while still continuing anyway (especially when you have no choice), this book is for you.
Why I Read This Book in June (coincidentally)
I didn’t plan to read this in June but it makes sense now that I did. Once I finished with Through It All (also by Joena San Diego), I immediately ordered this book, as it has been sitting in my Shopee cart since last year. Of all the books, I chose this one because I knew this would definitely hit home.
June, for me, is a month of reflection and transition. It marks the halfway point of the year: a quiet checkpoint where I ask myself: Am I still aligned with the life I’m building? Am I okay?
This June felt heavier than usual. My schedules are packed with graduate school deadlines, career transitions, new creative projects, and parenting commitments. I’ve been making room for love again, too: a soft and sacred kind that meets me where I am. And while many of these are good things, they’ve also stretched me thin.
It’s the season when I begin to see the cost of my momentum. The month when burnout whispers louder than usual. The month when I begin missing parts of myself I’ve overlooked in the name of “progress.”
So reading The Strong Gets Tired Too in June became my midyear pause. A spiritual check-in. A way to return to the part of me that isn’t hustling, just healing.
June is also the month of growth, the season where things bloom and days stretch long, asking us to notice how far we’ve come and how much still aches to be seen. And I think I needed that.
Why This Book Resonated Deeply with Me
I’ve made visible progress in my healing journey. I’m a single mother navigating graduate school, career transitions, emotional recovery, and rediscovering joy. But in between my scheduled routines and visible wins, there are still quiet spirals, manifested through relapses into old thinking that I’m not enough. That I’ve fallen behind. That if I don’t keep moving, I’ll somehow lose everything I’ve built.
Since singlehood dawned upon me, a lot of opportunities came. And I’ve been itching to grab as many as I can. But I can only carry so much. And unhealthily, it makes me weary to think that I need to be validated by chasing these even when I barely have the strength left.
This book didn’t force me to “fix” any of that. It simply held space for it.
“Be comfortable in My timing. Slow down a little. There’s peace in My plans.”
It reminded me that I don’t need to exhaust myself into significance. That God’s plans don’t require burnout as proof of my devotion, and that if I allow myself to keep on self-sabotaging, it directly violates my faith and thus makes me hypocritical.
Coping, Resting, and Choosing to Rise
These days, I’m learning that coping doesn’t have to be grand to be valid. It looks like
- Updating this blog when my thoughts become too loud
- Keeping up with my planner and daily checklists
- Walking or running to clear my mind
- Letting myself cool down through gaming
- Talking to God in the quiet moments, even when I don’t know what to say
It also looks like leaning into the people who have been loving me gently and unconditionally: my son, my family, my tight-knit friends, and someone special in my life who constantly reminds me that I don’t have to carry it all alone.
This book helped me realize that rest isn’t something I have to earn after achieving enough. Rest is part of the becoming. Even the strong ones need space to exhale. Even the healed ones get tired.
And nothing’s wrong with that; it’s part of being human, after all.
Who Should Read The Strong Gets Tired Too
This book is for the high-functioning souls who hide their burnout behind productivity, the breadwinners, solo parents, caretakers, and quiet leaders who become the “go-to” people who rarely ask for help themselves. It’s for those battling emotional fatigue, spiritual dryness, or silent sadness, the ones who long for gentler rhythms in a world that demands constant motion. The Strong Gets Tired Too doesn’t preach or pretend to have all the answers. Instead, it offers comfort, speaks softly, and holds space for your weariness, reminding you, with grace and truth, that you are still doing better than you think.
If you’ve ever found yourself caught in between milestones and meltdowns, questioned your worth even after healing, yet in spite all, chosen to rise again: quietly, shakily, faithfully…
Then this book belongs in your hands.
The Strong Gets Tired Too is not a solution. It’s a sacred pause. It’s a friend for the long nights and a gentle voice for the mornings when you don’t feel like getting up.
You are allowed to breathe. To rest. To feel.
And yes, to begin again.
