My therapist once told me that happiness is overrated.
As humans, we’re pleasure-seeking and pain-averse: revering all “good” feelings and demonizing the “bad,” when the god’s honest truth is that neither would exist without the other.
Believe me, I understand the resistance. Because sometimes life feels like this.
Garden-hose-spray-to-the-face be damned, today let yourself be wherever you are, feeling whatever you are feeling.
Cranky? Cuddle that curmudgeonly brittleness to your bosom.
Worried? Take a breath and clap as your anxiety does a jig.
Big Mood™? Soak in your sadness or accept your anger with equanimity.
Take every emotion as an opportunity to grow the muscle of allowing, knowing that nothing lasts forever and all your feelings are valid, vital companions on your human journey.
XO,
Annie
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I am in full support of your statements. But let me add or underline something (even though you most likely know this). The path that you propose is not an easy one. It is a discipline that you can choose to take on. The muscle analogy is apt. A lot of folks know they need more exercise, but doing so on a consistent basis seems an elusive thing. But like any exercise or discipline, failure is almost a built-in pitfall. When failure happens, as it will from time to time, you can fall back to your original commitment, and allow that too. It's ok to fail as well. What now? Just get back on the horse and continue to exercise those muscles. Forgive my soup of mixed metaphors.