Why “At Least” Isn’t Support

𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 “𝐚𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐭” 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐩. 

𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐈 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐦𝐲 𝐣𝐨𝐛, 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐤𝐞𝐩𝐭 𝐬𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠: 

“At least you’ll get another one.” 

“At least you’re free from that place.” 

“At least you can start fresh.” 

They meant well, but those words made me feel dismissed. “At least” didn’t take away my rage, shame, or fear. It rushed me into pretending I was okay before I was ready. 

What actually helped wasn’t sugarcoating, it was creating space to process: 

🍋 𝐖𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 + 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐭 

Every morning I walked Mimi for two hours and treated it like a moving therapy session. I recorded voice notes, asked myself questions, and answered out loud — like I would if a friend were listening. 

🍋 𝐓𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 

The questions weren’t fluffy. They helped me separate what was mine to carry from what wasn’t. That’s how I realized the shame wasn’t mine. 

🍋 𝐁𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐧 

Those same walks gave me the journal prompts and job-aid style tools I now share with others. 

📝𝐓𝐫𝐲 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬: 𝐌𝐲 “𝐀𝐭 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐭” 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐭𝐬 

When you feel dismissed by “at least,” ask yourself: 

- What am I really feeling right now? (name it) 

- Whose shame or fear am I carrying — and is it actually mine? 

- If a friend told me this story, what would I say back to them? 

- What’s one small step I can take today to feel safer or lighter? 

✨ 𝐐𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮: 

Have you ever had someone’s “at least” make you feel worse instead of better?

#ToxicPositivity #GirlTalk #GirlPOV #WellnessJourney #LifeTransitions