Pushing Peas on a Plate: What Happens When We Ignore Our Soul’s Hunger

When I was little, my mom used to tell a story about how I would sit in my highchair pushing peas around on my plate. No matter what she tried, she couldn’t get me to eat them. I wasn’t throwing a tantrum—I just wasn’t having it. I was a toddler, and at best, I had two choices: eat the peas or push them around. So I pushed.

Years later, after my mom passed, this memory returned—and with it, a deeper meaning that found its way into my work with women who feel stuck, uninspired, or lost in the rhythm of a life that no longer feels like theirs.

The Modern-Day Pea Push

How often do we know there’s something we need to say, something we want to do—or something we really don’t want to do—but we stay frozen, doing nothing about it?

We feel the misalignment.

We feel the unease.

And instead of pausing to reassess, we stay seated. We push peas on the plate of life.

It may not seem dramatic, but that subtle resistance—that quiet avoidance—is a form of soul-suffocation. It’s what I call “apathy to life.” It’s what happens when we disconnect from our own light.

You’re Not Lazy—You Miss Meaning

Over the years, I’ve learned this truth again and again, both in my personal journey and in the women I coach:

“You’re not lazy. You just miss meaning.”

When your soul is reduced to a tool for chasing success—financial, professional, social—it begins to revolt.

It shuts you down.

You become uninspired.

You scroll more. You snack more. You numb out. You tolerate things that deplete you.

Not because you’re weak.

Because your soul is starving for something real.

Stop Pretending

There’s a quote I often return to in my work:

“The mask you wear to survive suffocates the soul you were born to be.”

It’s time to take off the mask.

It’s time to stop pushing peas on a plate and start asking different questions.

• What am I tolerating that no longer fits who I am?

• Where have I betrayed my truth to make others comfortable?

• What dream have I buried because it felt too bold, too inconvenient, or too late?

These are the kinds of questions we explore in my Apathy to Alive monthly sessions—and the heart of everything I create.

A Soul That Reaches Out

In Wholly Sober, I share a moment that still gives me chills to this day. I had been drinking for hours at a party, and no matter how much I drank, I couldn’t get drunk. Something shifted. I drifted away from the noise, climbed a set of stairs, and felt a deep, piercing clarity.

My mind was awake, but my body was drunk.

And in that strange space, I felt my soul reaching out—not with words, but with urgency.

Within a week or two, I made the decision to stop drinking. I didn’t have a plan. I had no idea how I would free myself from an abusive relationship or the business I couldn’t run without him. But I did know this:

I needed to return to me.

I needed to reconnect to my light.

You Don’t Have to Rip Off the Tablecloth

You don’t have to create a dramatic scene to reclaim your life.

You don’t have to burn it all down or prove anything to anyone.

But you can choose differently.

You can get up from the table.

You can stop pushing peas.

You can begin, even if it’s slow, with one honest step back to yourself.

If you’re ready to explore the parts of you that feel hidden, disconnected, or uninspired—I’m here. If you’re curious, take the first step and reach out for a chat. It’s time to stop pushing peas and start living for real.

With love,

Teresa Rodden