but thankfully, for perhaps the first time in my life, i said "no" to a project i felt incredibly obliged to do

I've never been a juggler--at least in the literal sense.  But lately I've quite felt as if I'm juggling too many tasks, and people keep throwing more balls into the mix, and very soon I anticipate all of them falling into a heap around me, as I mourn the lack of ability I have at manipulating the inevitable force of gravity.