Leticia R. Francis Says You’re Not Crazy, You’re in Survival Mode And It’s Time to Exit

She’s successful on paper. Well-spoken. Put together. A go-to at work. But behind the scenes, she’s barely holding it together.

Not because she’s broken…But because no one ever taught her how to be whole.

If you’re that woman, the one who keeps it all together while slowly falling apart, I wrote this for you.

Because I know what it’s like to be praised for being strong while silently screaming for someone to see you’re exhausted. I know what it’s like to be the “reliable one” while living with unprocessed trauma. I know the mask of composure can be so airtight it suffocates you.

Let’s talk about survival mode.

Not the loud kind, the one with chaos, sirens, and rock bottoms. I’m talking about the quiet kind. The invisible kind. The socially acceptable kind.

The kind of survival mode that wears red lipstick and gets promoted. That volunteers for everything. That smiles through pain. That always says “I’ve got it” even when it’s drowning.

Survival mode isn’t always dramatic. Sometimes it’s damn near invisible.

It’s the clean house. The packed calendar. The endless productivity. The perfectionism masked as responsibility. The emotional numbness you call “just tired.”

It’s functioning while your nervous system is screaming. It’s over-giving so you’re not abandoned. It’s performing strength because the truth feels too unsafe to say out loud.

We weren’t taught how to rest. We were taught how to cope.

We were taught to survive, not to thrive. To endure, not to express. To push through, not to pause.

Somewhere along the way, strength became synonymous with silence. You were taught that the only way to be worthy was to be useful. And every time you needed help, you punished yourself instead.

So you kept going.

Even when your soul whispered “this isn’t it.” Even when your body begged you to stop. Even when your joy started leaking out of you, drop by drop.

You didn’t ignore yourself because you’re weak. You ignored yourself because survival trained you to believe your needs were dangerous.

And let’s be clear, survival mode isn’t a mindset. It’s an identity.

It’s the woman you became to stay safe. The one who swallowed her voice to keep the peace. The one who learned to anticipate everyone’s needs just to avoid conflict. The one who confused control with security.

She served a purpose. She kept you alive. But she is not the woman who will lead you into your next season.

Healing isn’t a vibe. It’s a f*cking war.

And you don’t get to ease until you admit what’s really going on beneath the productivity. Because healing starts with honesty, the kind that hurts before it frees you.

Ask yourself: Where am I still performing safety? What am I tolerating that I’ve outgrown? What version of me was built to protect, not to thrive?

The truth?

You’re not burned out because you’re lazy. You’re burned out because you’ve been everything for everyone for too damn long. You’re not “too sensitive.” You’ve just spent your whole life pretending not to feel what was real.

Let me be clear: surviving is not the same as living.

And I don’t care how long you’ve been high-functioning. If you’re disconnected from your joy, your body, and your truth, you’re still in survival.

You can’t yoga, journal, or affirmation your way out of survival mode without doing the deeper work.

You have to unlearn what survival taught you.

That softness is a threat. That independence is the only safety. That vulnerability equals weakness. That rest makes you lazy. That receiving is dangerous.

None of that is truth. That’s trauma logic. And trauma logic doesn’t belong in your future.

So, what does exiting survival mode actually look like?

It looks like radical self-awareness. Naming the patterns that keep you stuck. Choosing truth over comfort. Redefining success on your terms.

It looks like: Saying “no” without guilt. Asking for help even when your voice shakes. Letting go of the identity that made you feel safe but now keeps you small. Deciding that exhaustion is no longer your default setting.

It’s not glamorous. It’s not always peaceful. But it’s real. And real is what your healing needs.

It’s the moment you stop overexplaining. Stop shrinking to be palatable. Stop trying to be liked by people who would never choose you if you stopped performing.

You don’t need to be ready. You just need to be done. Done with pretending. Done with tolerating. Done with calling struggle your standard.

Because what’s waiting for you on the other side of survival is a version of you who is fully alive.

And she doesn’t beg to be chosen. She chooses herself. Loudly. Boldly. Unapologetically.

Here’s your reminder: You are not crazy. You are not broken. You are not behind. You are a woman who’s finally waking up from survival and that awakening is sacred.

You were not born to survive. You were meant to thrive. And thriving doesn’t require permission. It just requires a decision.

Make the damn decision.