Battling Sadness

I believe that sadness is part of life.  Sometimes we are sad.  Bad things happen.  Hard things happen.  Disappointment happens.  Being sad and hurt and angry are all natural emotions and come with the territory of being human.  That said, my natural inclination is to dwell in that hurt and sadness far longer than I should.  I ruminate on the mistakes I have made.  I blame myself for not predicting what would happen and for not stopping it before it made me or someone else sad.  I worry.  Over the years I have learned ways to keep the overwhelming darkness that can sometimes settle over me at bay.  I have incredible friends that care deeply about me. I have a fulfilling life and work.  I have invested time in things that matter.  All of that has helped but a few years ago, when I first started this blog, I realized the thing that was most useful to me in staying positive and in keeping my face towards the light - it was actively reminding myself of the beautiful little things in my life.  Actively taking time to feel blessed at the daily wonder in my life helped me shift my whole life.  It made a profound difference in how I felt about myself and the world.  Over the last 3 years, I have been able to make significant and important changes to my life.  These changes have been made through very small baby steps and that is what I need to remember.  I need to continue to remind myself that the big things are made up of thousands of little things.

As darkness peeks at the edges of my mind, I find myself again needing to remember the ordinary wonder and awe that is found when we live our lives.  I need to reflect on the daily heroics that come from regular and often unnoticed kindness.  This was the original purpose of this blog.  It was my attempt at being fully present in my own life and of sharing myself with anyone willing to take a moment to read the ramblings in this blog.  

So, yes, sadness and pain and anger and hurt and disappointment and frustration are part of being human.  That is true.  But what is also true is that beauty and love and laughter and joy and awe and wonder and kindness and care and compassion and empathy and hope are also part of being human.   And I believe in in hope and I believe in love and I believe in kindness.  I believe there is more good than bad in the world and  I believe there is more things to be inspired by in the world than there are things to be disappointed in.  We just need to be willing to see them and find them and share them.  It is the only way I know to battle the sadness, escape the darkness, and be fully present in the light of my own life. 

Here we go again...