Updated 2025

|| Between Shifts and Sunrise ||

Hi kim,

Thank you so much for sending [me resources to prepare for the CELBAN]. There are times that I just only read but I don’t have time to do it. As I’ve said before, I’m the breadwinner, my husband is studying, we just bought a new house and also I decided to study to improve my confidence and I’m currently studying Communication for health professional. I worked during the night and go to school 1-5:30pm monday to friday. I only slept 2-3 hours a day because I’m not driving my work and school was far from my place approximately One hour drive. So i need to leave the house earlier. Sometimes, I feel very exhausted and stressed with my life. My schedule is overwhelming but I need to work with it. Hoping that someday all this sacrifices pays off. My schooling will be done on November 29.  After that I can focus on my celban review. My schedule with the exam on celban maybe December or January? There is no specific schedule yet, Since I rescheduled my exam from september but CELaS said they dont have schesule yet. G

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Dear G,

There are some stories that carry the weight of a whole life in one breath. Yours arrived like that. Tired but trying. Brave, even when worn thin. And I want you to know: I see you. Not just the student or the provider, not just the mother or the nurse-in-waiting, but the whole of you, in all that you are holding.

Let us move slowly through this reply (one breath at a time) guided by the rhythm of the spirals, not the rush of the clock.

🜄 Return to Self

When exhaustion blurs your edges, return. Gently.

There is a sacred kind of love in the way you’re showing up… for your family, for your work, for your future. But even sacred devotion needs rest.

You’ve been giving so much, with so little margin. I hear it in your schedule: two to three hours of sleep, long commutes, learning during the day, caregiving in every direction. Sometimes we don’t realize how far we’ve gone from ourselves until we feel our body whispering, enough now. You may not be able to change everything overnight, but this is your quiet invitation to come home to yourself… even in five-minute windows. Even in one long, honest breath.

You are not lazy. You are not behind. You are simply human, and tired.

🜁 Fog to Clarity

Overwhelm speaks in circles. Clarity comes in small steps.

Let’s gather what’s real, and sort it gently.

• You’re nearing the end of your current studies. That’s a major milestone. November 29 is a turning point.
• You’ve already rescheduled your CELBAN exam. There is no fixed date yet; but, you are still on the path.
• You’ve tried to read the resources, and even that matters. Even the act of opening a page when you’re running on fumes shows commitment.

The next clear step? Choose one rhythm. One practice. Just 30 minutes a few times a week… after November, when your schooling lifts. Until then, let “not now” be a full sentence without guilt.

🜃 Rooted in Enoughness

You do not need to earn your worth through exhaustion.

Your schedule is not just busy; it’s unsustainable. And still, you rise. But let’s name something gently: you are not a machine that needs to be more productive. You are a person with needs, limits, and a body that deserves care, not just survival.

The pattern of overextension is often praised in nursing, but it does not prepare us for a career – it depletes us before we even begin. Begin now to practice the art of staying in your body – resting when you can, stretching when you must. Keep reminding yourself that your presence (not your pace) is your power.

You are enough. Already.

🜂 Rekindling the Inner Fire

Even a flicker is still fire.

Your letter holds the quiet glow of someone who hasn’t let go. Even in overwhelm, you’re still planning. Still hoping. Still imagining a future where all this sacrifice becomes something steady.

That flicker? That’s your inner fire.

Let’s protect it. Not by pushing harder, but by tending it slowly. The path to becoming an RN in Canada doesn’t ask for perfection. It asks for presence, persistence, and patience. You already have all three. Let the ember breathe. There is time.

🜀 Standing at Zenith

Where all parts of you meet… with grace, not pressure.

The goal is not just passing CELBAN. The deeper invitation is to become the kind of nurse, the kind of human, who knows how to care for others without abandoning herself.

At Zenith, we don’t strive… we integrate.
This is where heart, mind, body, and spirit spiral back into coherence.

So I ask you this now, G:

• Can you offer yourself the same compassion you give so freely to others?
• Can you trust that even slow progress is sacred?
• Can you believe that your story isn’t late—it’s just layered?

You are not alone in this. And you were never meant to walk the road without a rhythm that honors your humanity.

When you are ready (after the November turning) return to your studies not as pressure, but as promise. Until then, breathe. Be. Let your nervous system rest in knowing: you are already becoming.

In gentleness,
~ Kim

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|| AMAZING!!! I passed the CELBAN!!! || Mastering Your Psychology ||

Enouragement

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