Morning Pogue,

Last week was a bit of an up and down week. Something happened in the middle of the week that upset me and I woke on Thursday morning feeling, well, a little sad. Like I didn’t see the point in getting out from under the duvet, plus it was cold so that didn’t help.

You see, something that I had put effort and time into expecting a very positive result came tumbling down. I wouldn’t have minded except I had invested a lot of time and had built an expectation. So I hurt and my mind, as it does, went into overdrive questioning, turning my work in a harsh light so as to find the possible flaws and that just made me feel worse.

What did I do to address the situation? Well I didn’t give myself a positive pep talk. You know the sort people tell you to have where everything is going to be alright. The “you’re better than this”, and “you can do this” type and you psych yourself out of your despondency. No, I allowed myself 24 hours of sadness because it was real and needed to be worked through. The emotions, well I wasn’t going to hang onto them but I was going to let them come forth, grow and then whither.

You see, those emotions were part of my experience and cutting them off or worse, suppressing them was, in my mind, denying the experience. Sadness is part of the human condition, part of the spectrum of human emotions. If you don’t experience sadness how are you ever going to know joy? So I allowed the sadness, and I experienced it. I allow myself 24 hours as if the tide has come in and I’m was waiting for it to recede. And, invariably the emotion wears itself out and balance returns. I am left with a clear view of things and able to realistically assess my lesson, for there are no failures only lessons, and the opportunities I now have. There are always opportunities.

And the musing?

Don’t deny yourself emotions like sadness because they are part of the “whole” of your emotional ability. Think, there can be no disappointment if there isn’t hope, or heart break if there isn’t love. Would you give up one to avoid the other. I think not and if you did, you would be the poorer for it. It is because we love, love life, because we look forward expecting there to be light in the darkness, that we can be sad when our expectations are not met. Love life with a passion but know that sadness is an essential part of life’s riches.

Wic