Responding vs. Overriding: Rethinking How We Handle Stress

Is ‘just push through’ really resilience, or is it ignoring what your body and mind need?

When we keep telling ourselves to “just push through,” a few subtle but important things happen - especially psychologically.

At first, it can feel productive. We override fatigue, emotions, or discomfort and get things done. But over time, that constant self-overriding teaches the nervous system that signals like stress, overwhelm, or exhaustion aren’t worth listening to. They get ignored rather than regulated.

Emotionally, “push through” often turns into quiet self-invalidation. Instead of asking

What do I need right now?, the question becomes Why can’t I handle this better? That’s where frustration, guilt, and self-criticism creep in - even when someone is doing their best.

Physiologically, chronic pushing keeps the body in a low-grade stress response. Cortisol stays elevated, recovery gets delayed, and rest starts to feel uncomfortable rather than restorative. Many people don’t burn out because they’re weak - they burn out because they’re consistently overriding their limits.

Psychologically, it also narrows our range of coping. When “pushing through” is the only strategy, we lose access to flexibility: pausing, asking for support, adjusting expectations, or even naming that something is hard.

There’s a difference between resilience and suppression. Resilience includes listening, pacing, and repair - not just endurance.

Sometimes the healthier question isn’t How do I push through this?It’s What would it look like to respond instead of override?

That shift alone can change how sustainable life feels.