Part of the reason women are so tired is because

we are spending so much energy to "keep it together".
So much energy devoted to suppress the pain and keeping a good appearance.
"I'm gonna harden my heart", "I'm gonna swallow my tears"
Part of this is driven by fear that the pain will overwhelm us.

That we'll be consumed by our sorrow.

Words were said, painful words. Things were done, awful things.
And they shaped us. Something inside of us shifted.
We embraced the message of our wounds.
We made a vow never to be in that place again.
We adopt strategies to protect ourselves from being hurt again.
A woman who is living out of a broken, wounded heart

is one who is living a self-protected life.
Its her way of trying to "save herself".

As women we tend to feel that "it must be me. something is wrong with me."
That's the effect of early wounds.
We also believe that we are essentially alone,

because we aren't the women we're supposed to be.
We don't feel worthy of pursuit,

so we hang a "do not disturb" sign on our personalities.
We don't feel that we are irreplaceable, so we try to make ourselves useful.
We don't feel that we are beautiful, so we work hard to be outwardly beautiful.

We refuse our vulnerability in order to feel safe and in control.
We become nothing inviting or alluring, nothing tender or merciful.
Just because we are afraid.
We try so hard to protect our hearts from further pain.

However still, deep within, the ache is always still there.
The ache to be understood, validated, empathised.
The ache to relief our sadness & grief in tears; and comforted.
The ache to be pursued, desired, cherished; We want to be romanced.
Wanting so much to feel tt we are still worth to be loved.
That we are special.