You don’t have to be happy all the time
Photo by Madison Oren on Unsplash
The advice…
It’s okay to be sad, upset, unhappy, disappointed, uninspired. Just like the earth grows stronger with sunshine and rain, you will too.
Where it’s coming from…
Being happy all the time is not realistic. It’s a burden. Don’t allow yourself to be burdened by this unrealistic expectation of constant happiness.
It’s okay to be upset, angry, disappointed, hurt, insecure, unhappy at times. These are all parts of the emotional landscape that make up the world we live in. They can live in the same world with happiness, excitement, inspiration and all the positive emotions.
We often try to suppress the more negative emotions: hiding them from loved ones, our children and ourselves. Perhaps this is because they are uncomfortable. Yes, they are. But if we listen to them, we will see that they are trying to tell us something. If we sit with our anger for a while, we can try to understand what’s causing it and address it. Same with other things like fear, resent, and disappointment.
I tried this. Some time ago a friend asked me for a favour. I was drowning. But I said ‘yes’. This conjured up a feeling of resentment. I did not like the feeling. But when I sat with it, I understood that the feeling had nothing to do with my friend: it was about me. In this case, I just had to learn how to say ‘no’ when I was overwhelmed. My friend would understand.
I guess what I’m trying to say is that life is full of different shades. Different seasons. Different emotions. They are natural. No matter what we see on social media - we need to keep reminding ourselves that that is not real. What we need to keep in mind is that everything passes: the good and the bad. Just need to hang in there… soak in the good moments and learn from the bad.