I remember a time, it was years back now, when I piled my plate so high… took on those extra committees, three of them, just to make sure the manager saw me, saw I was a good fit for that promotion. I was so tired then, the kind of tired that feels like sand in your teeth and behind your eyes… so exhausted, I couldn’t even properly see the forms on my desk. The case reports, the ones for the people who really needed me, just sat there… gathering dust under the fluorescent hum, while I sat in another meeting, nodding along. The mortgage didn't care about my dedication, only the numbers.