In some cultures and ours especially we are expected to be happy. How many times have you been sitting at a party, with a commonplace expression on your face and someone demands you "SMILE!"
We've all been experiencing a mopey mood and our all too hyper friend unleashes the annoying crusade beginning with the command "CHEER UP!"
All around happiness is difficult to achieve and to fully attempt it is all too much pressure. We seem to be taught that when we are experiencing negative emotions we need to do something instantly to get rid of them. While I'm not suggesting that we wallow in sadness, frustration, and anger a majority of our time-we all need to experience embracing those emotions to learn from them.
Next time you experience a negative emotion ig: sadness, rejection, annoyance, etc. learn how to just sit with it. Instead of focusing all your energy on getting rid of the emotion and getting back to happy focus on how the emotion feels. How does your heart feel? What does your stomach feel like? What are you experiencing in all the fibers of your being?
Humans are dynamic beings, capable of feeling a good many things. If we only allow ourselves to truly experience positive emotions without reflection on negative ones, we are truly missing half of ourselves. When you think about it, the physical sensations associated with emotions are really an intriguing thing. It's interesting how the human body can feel so many things, just based on what's going on in your head.
Have you ever had a time in your life that you noticed you hadn't been feeling much emotion at all, then suddenly you start longing for something or missing someone? The rush of emotions, although sometimes perceived as negative, might make you feel truly alive. Alive is what we all strive for.
The more we learn to experience these emotions, the better we are able to work them out. We become less afraid of dealing with them, because we show ourselves we can do it with grace. In turn we become less afraid of unknown situations, which might warrant negative emotions. We won't fear "bad days" but learn to experience them as just a part of life and let them roll off our backs.