It wasn’t the noise. It was my nervous system.

There’s a quote I’ve carried for years:
 

“We don’t see the world as it is. We see the world as we are.”
 

A few weeks ago, that truth landed in a way I couldn’t ignore –
not in a profound moment… but in an airport.
 

I’d spent a rare, precious workday spinning in circles instead of landing anything meaningful.
My body was asking for grounding.
My brain was pushing for productivity.
And the result was a version of me who could find agitation in a feather.
 

By the time I reached my gate, everything felt loud –
the coffee grinder behind me,
the toddler wailing three seats over,
even the rhythmic bouncing of the woman’s leg next to mine.
 

And here’s the part I had to get honest about:
I wasn’t just reacting to the world.
The world was reflecting me back to myself.
 

When our nervous system is overwhelmed, everything gets filtered through that state.
Not to punish us –
but to show us what needs our care.
 

Our brains take in over 11 million bits of information every second,
yet we consciously register only about 120 of them.
And which 120 do you think your brain is primed to notice?
Exactly – the ones that match your internal state.
 

Agitated → you find agitation.
Rushed → everything feels like it’s rushing you.
Grounded → space returns.
 

So I did what I knew I needed to return to:

Compassion first.

A hand gently massaging my heart. Enough softness to deepen my breath and create a small pocket of space – between me and the agitation, inside and out. Just enough space to shift in front of it, instead of being pinned beneath it.

Not because it magically fixes everything – but because that moment of presence changes everything. And I’m sharing this now because:

How we end a year matters.

The state we end the year in
becomes the foundation we begin the next from.
 

So as we step into these final days –
full of joy, pressure, expectation, noise, tenderness, and life –
I’m asking myself (and now I’m asking you):
 

How do you want to meet the end of this year?
Not for others –
for you.
 

What pace feels honest? Manageable? Kind?
What compassion feels necessary?
What would help your system land… instead of grip?
 

You don’t need to sprint to the finish line.
You don’t need to resolve everything.
You don’t need to contort yourself into calm
or pretend you’re not overwhelmed.
 

You just need to choose how you want to step out of this year –
and make that one loving shift on your own behalf.
 

End it connected, not contracted.
End it aligned with who you are – and who you’re becoming.
Because we are always evolving.
 

Wishing you breath, connection,
and a soft landing into whatever comes next.

With warmth and gratitude,

Rachel Tenenbaum ❤️