Feeling of the Week: Helplessness

Helplessness = Uncertainty + Lack of Agency

Helplessness is one of the heaviest feelings that uncertainty brings. When the future is unclear and you feel like you have no influence over what happens, your sense of agency starts to slip away. The nervous system reads this as a loss of safety, and the result is often a mix of exhaustion, fear, and resignation.

What makes helplessness so painful is that it convinces you there is nothing you can do. Yet even in the most unpredictable seasons, there are always small actions within reach. You may not be able to control the outcome, but you can choose how you respond. You can choose to rest, to reach out for support, to breathe through one more difficult moment.

This shift matters. Every time you take even the smallest action in the face of uncertainty, you remind yourself that you are not powerless. You build emotional endurance one choice at a time.

Where in your life right now do you feel helpless? And what is one small, intentional action you could take today to remind yourself that you still have agency?