Happy Saturday my friends,
Yesterday, I felt sad – and for no apparent reason. Trying to escape the discomfort I started to create stories about the reason I might be feeling it. I analysed, rationalised, and put myself in an ugly mood in the process.
Reasons scudded thought my mind like countless windswept clouds, and as I tried to follow them all I realised just how much I was exhausting myself. My heart was racing, I was restless and confused.
At this point, I stopped the flow of words and felt the sadness. Without the distracting thoughts, the feeling itself wasn’t difficult to bear. To the contrary, there was a sense of peacefulness to it.
I realised how easily we turn our backs to some emotions – sadness, anger, fear – and by doing so we overlook important lessons. Sadness isn’t my enemy, but by trying to escape it, I treated it as such. Once, I turned towards it with acceptance and compassion the discomfort was replaced with calm.
Seeing sadness as an inconvenience is quite common. But in my experience, feeling sad is extremely valuable. Not only does it show a different side of our human nature, but it gives the ensuing joy meaning.
Sure enough, the sadness lifted in a couple of hours and I returned to my usual cheerful self with a lesson learned.
This is a picture of the sea I took on Thursday. It was incredibly peaceful even with the clouds towering above it. It reminded me of the calm that we feel when we love every aspect of ourselves. The clouds will lift, but if you don’t give yourself a chance to look at the landscape at this moment, you might be missing out on something beautiful.
May you be present in your sadness.
May you feel love for yourself.