What in Your Life Is Actually Glass?

A simple reminder about priorities, pressure, and what truly matters

A client shared something with me this week that I haven’t stopped thinking about.

We had been working on her overwhelm, feeling pulled in too many directions, stretched thin, and finding very little joy in her days.

By week three, something had shifted.

She was noticeably calmer, more grounded, more at peace.

She told me our work together helped her slow down enough to see things more clearly.

Then she shared something someone had said to her:

Some priorities in life are like glass.

If they fall, they can’t simply be put back together.

Things like:

• your kids
• your relationships
• your role as a parent
• time with the people you love

Those moments matter.

Once they’re gone, you don’t get them back in quite the same way.

But Not Everything Is Glass

The problem is many of the things that fill our days aren’t glass.

Housework can wait.
Most texts can wait.
Emails can wait.

But we often move through life as if everything is urgent. Fragile. Important.

So we rush.

We fill every open space.

We keep adding more.

And before long, life starts to feel like a constant game of staying busy.

The Busy Game

I see this all the time, especially in high-achieving families and communities—and I see it differently now.

After working with so many people who feel frazzled, overwhelmed, and unhappy—and helping them untangle what’s underneath—I’ve come to understand what’s really driving it.

It’s not just about being busy.

Often, it’s about avoiding the discomfort of slowing down.

The thoughts we don’t want to sit with.

The feelings we don’t quite know how to process.

So we fill our time—not always with what matters most, but with what keeps us from having to be with ourselves.

I played that game too.

Until life started to feel overwhelming when my kids were little—and I realized I didn’t want to be “too busy” for what mattered most.

Because the busy game doesn’t create meaning.

It creates pressure.

And pressure is exhausting.

The Question That Changes Everything

Sometimes the healthiest shift we can make is to pause long enough to ask:

What in my life is truly glass?

Because when everything feels important, we treat everything like it will shatter if we drop it.

That’s where the pressure builds.

But when we slow down and ask this question, something shifts.

We begin to see more clearly:

what actually matters
what can wait
what we’ve been holding onto out of habit—not intention

Letting go isn’t about not caring.

It’s about choosing—intentionally—what deserves your energy.

Slowing Down Isn’t Falling Behind

Slowing down isn’t falling behind.

It’s stepping out of the constant pressure to keep up.

It allows you to:

respond instead of react
protect time with your family
be present in the moments that actually matter

Because life doesn’t have to be a race.

And when we’re always racing, we often miss the very things we’re working so hard for.

The Advice That Stayed With Me

When I had my first baby, an older mom shared something with me that I never forgot.

She said:

“There will be times you feel like the house needs to be perfect and dinner needs to be on the table.

But that can wait.

Spend the time with your baby—because they grow up fast.”

At the time, it felt like permission.

Permission to let some things go.

Permission to not do everything.

And now, 27 years later, I can tell you—she was right.

Looking Back

I’m so glad that, for the most part, I listened.

There are moments I wish I had slowed down even more…

taken on less…

and resisted the pull to do all the things.

But when it came to what mattered most—time with my kids—

I was able to put other things aside.

And that mattered.

The Moment It Came Full Circle

Recently, one of my closest friends said something that stopped me.

She said:

“Do you remember the advice you gave me?”

I didn’t.

And she said:

“You told me that housework can wait—but time with your kids can’t.”

I don’t even remember saying it.

But she said it helped her prioritize what mattered.

And that meant everything to me.

The Real Shift

When we recognize what is truly glass, we don’t stop caring.

We start caring more clearly.

We stop trying to hold everything.

And instead, we protect what matters most.

A Question to Come Back To

When everything feels important, ask yourself:

 What in my life is truly glass?

And let that answer guide you toward your most fragile and glass like priorities. 

Siah Fried, MPH, NBC-HWC

Certified Parent Coach | Nationally Certified Health & Wellness Coach|Speaker | Educator |

Founder of Move FORWARD coaching program

www.siahfriedcoach.com