249 - Why Being Resilient Is Making You Exhausted
Life Happens with Barb & Michelle
Michelle Maros & Barb Schmidt
4.9 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 17 March 2026
⏱️ 41 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Have you ever been knocked down so hard you weren’t sure you could get back up?
Have you ever felt the weight of the world and wondered how to keep moving forward—with strength, dignity, and hope?
In this week’s episode of Life Happens with Barb & Michelle, we explore why resilience can feel so hard, especially when you're exhausted from carrying so much. Inspired by Maya Angelou’s powerful poem Still I Rise, this conversation is about finding the courage to rise again—even when life feels overwhelming.
💬 Barb candidly shares her personal experiences with trauma and how Maya Angelou’s wisdom helped her build strength and resilience in her own life.
💬 Michelle opens up about what it feels like to be tired of always having to be resilient—and how she continues to rise above life’s challenges with honesty, grace, and self-compassion.
✨ In This Episode, We Discuss:
- How to find your voice and strength after trauma
- Becoming the author of your own life story
- The healing power of literature and storytelling
- Why resilience doesn’t mean ignoring your pain
- Holding onto one powerful truth: Still I Rise
- Finding balance between growth, healing, and rest
As Maya Angelou reminds us:
"You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them."
If life feels heavy right now, this conversation is a reminder that you are stronger than you think—and you can rise again.
💗 Mentioned in today’s episode:
Maya Angelou’s Still I rise: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/46446/still-i-rise
Maya Angelou’s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/i-know-why-the-caged-bird-sings-maya-angelou/1100392955
📘 Go Deeper with Dear Friend
If this episode on rising above life’s hardships and practicing self-compassion resonated with you, you may also love Michelle’s USA TODAY bestselling book, Dear Friend, a daily reflection companion designed to help you reconnect with your inner voice, honor your needs, and find clarity and strength one day at a time.
Because resilience doesn’t begin with changing your circumstances.
It begins with strengthening your relationship with yourself.
And that may be the most important relationship you’ll ever build.
👉 Order your copy: https://amzn.to/3Us9eqg
🎧 Listen to the audiobook and step into a year that truly loves you back: https://amzn.to/459zSdt
💬 We’d love to hear from you! What insight or moment resonated most with you in this episode? Share in the comments—we truly read every one.
📅 Subscribe & Join Us Next Tuesday for another heartfelt episode of Life Happens with Barb and Michelle! 💕
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | It's like I don't always want to be the, have to be considered the resilient person. |
| 0:03.7 | We have to remember we always have a choice. And it is our birthright and it is our power |
| 0:09.9 | and life that we remember we always have a choice. You can decide not to be reduced by them. |
| 0:17.9 | Have you ever been knocked down so hard, you weren't sure how you could ever possibly get back up? |
| 0:23.4 | Have you ever felt the weight of the world and wondered how to keep going with strength, dignity, and maybe even some hope? |
| 0:30.4 | If you've asked yourself any questions like this, this week's conversation is for you. |
| 0:35.0 | Welcome back to Life Happens with Barb and Michelle. |
| 0:38.7 | We are so happy that you're here with us today. Hi, Mom. Hi, Michelle. How's it going? It's good. I'm happy to be here |
| 0:45.1 | today too. You're always happy to be in conversation together. But I feel like especially so, |
| 0:50.9 | you know, in continuation of us talking about women that we admire, women that have inspired |
| 0:57.3 | us, people that have really taught us and motivated us, and all of those good things, today |
| 1:03.5 | we're going to be talking about a friend of the pod, someone we talk about basically every |
| 1:09.5 | single episode anyways, Maya Angelou. |
| 1:11.9 | Yes, I'm so excited. |
| 1:13.6 | Which is one of your all-time favorite humans, authors, poets, teachers, leaders, et cetera, et cetera. |
| 1:23.2 | Yes. |
| 1:23.9 | But we really dived into a lot of her work, her life. |
| 1:30.7 | You've had some personal experiences with her. |
| 1:33.7 | And I'm really excited to use her life's work to talk about resilience and hope, |
| 1:41.9 | especially in difficult times, which we know life is always difficult, |
| 1:48.0 | but I think a lot of us can relate to the feeling that the world that we live in is really, |
| 1:53.3 | really hard and how do we maintain a semblance of hope? |
... |
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