The Moment My Body Told Me What Mattered Most

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Hey Spark Family,

Yesterday was one of those days.

The kind where everything feels heavier than it should. Very little sleep, too many things going sideways, and work piling up faster than I could keep up with it. My anxiety was high, and my nervous system felt shot and on high alert at the same time.

You know the feeling. Swimming against the current, trying to keep your head above water.

My husband was out of town, and by early evening I was still buried in work that refused to end. A little before 7:00pm, I closed my laptop anyway and told my son Miles we were going for sushi.

It’s our thing when his dad travels. And no matter how hard the day is, I don’t mess with that.

Dinner wasn’t long, but it was everything it usually is. Talking, laughing, covering a lot of ground and nothing important at all. Just being together. An hour later we headed home, and I went right back to work and stayed locked in until after midnight.

Around 1am, finally getting ready for bed, I checked my Oura Ring data, specifically my stress metrics from the day. ​
The graph told a story I couldn't ignore.

From 6 a.m. until midnight, my stress level was maxed out. No dips, no recovery, just sustained intensity. Except for one moment. A single, unmistakable drop all the way down into “restored,” and then right back up again.

That one moment was dinner with Miles.

My physiology responded to connection. My biology responded to presence, even when the rest of the day didn’t change at all.

That moment taught me something I won’t forget. No amount of strategy, structure, or discipline restores us the way connection does.

I spend my days helping leaders think clearly, decide well, and perform under pressure, and I believe deeply in systems, focus, and accountability. But that night was a reminder of something just as important.

Restoration isn’t the absence of stress.
​It’s the presence of meaning.

As leaders, we’re often rewarded for powering through, for pushing past our limits, for staying “on” longer than we should. But the data doesn’t lie. And sometimes, it doesn’t just measure us. It teaches us.

The most impactful leaders don’t just manage energy. They protect the people and moments that restore it.

So here’s a gentle reflection to carry with you this week. Not performance data. Human data.

Where in your day do you feel most like yourself again? Who brings your system back to center? What moments actually restore you, even briefly?

Those moments aren’t indulgent. They’re essential.

Sometimes, the most important leadership insight isn’t in a dashboard or a meeting. It’s at the dinner table.

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Grateful,
​Jackie

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P.S. – If you’re in a season where your stress is running high, you’re not alone. If you want to reply with the one thing that reliably restores you, I’d genuinely love to hear it. ✨
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