When You're Too Tired to Try (And Magic Happens Anyway)

"Sometimes the most spiritual thing you can do is just drink your coffee and let the universe do its job."

I slept for exactly two hours last night.

If you are sensitive to lunar shifts, you already know why. Hello, New Moon energy. It has always affected me. It used to keep my late, sweet kitty awake, and now it does the exact same thing to my baby.

So this morning, I woke up with that specific, deep-in-your-bones exhaustion where you stare at the ceiling and think: How on earth do I do today?

Honestly, I fully expected today to be a write-off. A survival day. A "keep everyone alive and apologize for my emails later" kind of day.

But the universe has a really funny sense of humor.

The Sacred Ritual of Nessie and Nuns

If you've been following along on this journey, you know about my sacred morning tradition. I make my magical coffee using my Nessie (my Nespresso machine, my true north, my loyal friend), and I sit down to actually drink it. It is non-negotiable.

I made breakfast for everyone, fully bracing myself for toddler chaos. Instead, my two-year-old made a very specific request: The Sound of Music.

Yes, my toddler is currently obsessed with Julie Andrews. (And yes, I sit there with the remote like a DJ, expertly fast-forwarding through the historically heavy, non-age-appropriate parts so she just gets the singing nuns and the children in the curtain-clothes).

I put the movie on, grabbed my laptop, and something wild happened.

It was beautiful. It was pure joy. My daughter happily sang along, and I sat there on two hours of sleep, bathed in the sound of "Do-Re-Mi," and actually... got work done.

The Flow State I Didn't Ask For

The weird magic of the day didn't stop there.

I left for a doctor's appointment, fully expecting the morning's peace to shatter by the time I got back. But when I walked through the door? My daughter was taking a massive nap.

Listen to me. This never happens.

I sat back down at my laptop. Everything felt like it was flowing. There was no resistance. No friction. Just me, getting things done in a quiet house, riding this bizarre wave of peaceful productivity.

And then the phone rang.

My Version of the Broadway Lottery

Let me give you some context. I have a hotel package I've been trying to use for a summer trip. But the dates I need happen to fall during the World Cup here in the US.

Rooms in this city are currently going for thousands of dollars a night. Everything is booked. People are rearranging their entire lives and travel schedules because of these constraints. We had been calling and calling, trying to secure a room, and getting a chorus of no, no, absolutely not, are you kidding, no.

But on the other end of the phone today was an absolute angel of a woman who works with the hotel where I bought the package.

Unbeknownst to me, she had been quietly checking the system for us this whole time. She called to tell me she found a room. She made a literal hospitality miracle happen.

(Side note to the universe: Since we're making World Cup miracles happen today, if anyone knows how to get reasonable tickets to the finals, my DMs are wide open).

When I hung up the phone, I actually laughed out loud.

Yesterday—literally Day 106—I wrote a whole blog post called "When Nothing Goes Right: Why Surrender Might Be the Answer You're Not Expecting" about my old neighbor who stopped gripping, entered a Broadway lottery on a whim, and won on her first try.

This hotel room? This was my Broadway lottery.

If you read yesterday's post, you're probably seeing the pattern here. My neighbor won the Broadway lottery because she entered without attachment. I got the hotel room because I was literally too tired to try to control the outcome. Different stories. Same energy. Same result.

What Happens When You're Too Tired to Try (And That's Actually Perfect)

Here is what I realized sitting at my desk today, completely exhausted but entirely profoundly grateful:

Sometimes, you don't intentionally surrender. Sometimes, you are just too tired to hold on.

Because of that New Moon insomnia, I didn't have the energy to micromanage my day today. I didn't have the bandwidth to stress about the hotel, or force my productivity, or try to control the vibe of my house.

I just drank my Nessie coffee. I listened to Julie Andrews. I let the day be whatever it was going to be.

I dropped the rope. And because I wasn't busy trying to force doors open, the universe was able to just quietly unlock one for me.

Maybe the New Moon kept me awake so I'd be too tired to try to resist what was trying to come through. Maybe exhaustion is sometimes the universe's way of short-circuiting our control mechanisms so grace can finally get in.

If you are exhausted today, if you are staring down a problem that keeps giving you a "no," or if you're just running on two hours of sleep and caffeine—let this be your permission slip.

Stop fighting it. Drink your coffee. Put on a ridiculous, joyful movie. Do the next right thing in front of you.

You might just be too tired to get in your own way. And that might be exactly when the magic happens.

Today, I was too tired to resist. The universe said "finally" and went to work.

About the Author | Day 107

I am a soul-led coach, entrepreneur, and recovering control enthusiast navigating the beautiful, messy journey of building a life that doesn't require a white-knuckle grip on every single outcome. I work with overthinkers, over-planners, and people who are finally ready to admit that "thriving under pressure" is just survival mode with better branding.

I believe in the power of surrender, the undeniable magic of a perfectly timed toddler nap, and the fact that sometimes the universe's best work happens when you're running on two hours of sleep and Nespresso.

One open hand, one Julie Andrews singalong, one unexpected miracle at a time.