How Long Should It Take To Heal?
Time is your greatest ally and your worst enemy. The pressure to “fix” everything—your mental health, your relationships, your life—definitely feels overwhelming. We live in a world that moves fast, where every second seems to demand productivity, progress, and perfection. But healing doesn’t work on a timer. And rushing it? That’s where the real damage happens.
The Fast-Paced World vs. Healing
We live in a world that expects everything to happen fast. Five seconds to grab attention on social media. Thirty seconds to heat up a meal. Three minutes to get through a drive-thru. When everything around us moves at lightning speed, it’s easy to feel like we’re falling behind. Healing, however, doesn’t work that way. Healing demands patience. It asks for space. And most of all, it refuses to be rushed.
Healing Takes Time—And That’s Okay
Think about a physical injury. If a doctor tells you it’ll take five weeks to heal but you’re still in pain at the end of that time, the doctor won’t tell you to just push through and act like everything is fine. They’ll tell you to give it more time. You wouldn’t blame your body for not healing fast enough. So why do we do that to ourselves when it comes to emotional healing?
Your past didn’t happen overnight. The experiences, the patterns, the wounds—they’ve been building over years, sometimes decades. Expecting yourself to “fix” everything in a matter of weeks isn’t just unrealistic; it’s harmful. When we force healing, we risk retraumatizing ourselves, just like trying to run on a broken leg before it’s ready.
Time as a Gift
Time isn’t just a challenge—it’s a gift. It’s an opportunity to take small steps, to experiment, to find what truly works for you. Healing isn’t about doing everything perfectly all at once. It’s about making one small change at a time. Maybe that means stepping outside for a walk each day. Maybe it means creating a little space in your schedule to just sit and breathe. Maybe it’s reaching out to someone who truly understands. Whatever it is, start small. Let the process unfold naturally.
Reframing Your Relationship with Time
If you’re struggling with time—feeling like there’s never enough of it, or like you’re wasting it—take a step back. Pay attention to where your time is actually going. Not to judge yourself, but to understand. You might be surprised at what you find. And once you see the patterns, you can start shifting them in ways that serve you better.
Let me show you how to reframe your relationship with time. I've got some simple, practical strategies to reduce pressure and create space for genuine healing.