We live in a world that tells us to be positive, happy, compassionate, and kind to everyone all the time.
What if we feel like . . . clutter, garbage, refuse . . . and hold on until it turns into JOY? That is natural, and the stuff of exceptional resilience.
How do you do that? Let go of the positivity movement. It's causing us to suppress our emotions.
What do we do now as our nation grapples with the downstream effects of stress? Notice that extreme emotions of hostility, panic, depression, anxiety, shame, and numbness are normal.
Why not just accept that, given how much stress is flowing into our brains, we have a right to feel BAD?
Now that you have stopped the relentless positive wire, let's use EBT to barge through the negative wires, process their toxifying emotions and reclaim our joy. The first step of acceptance is good, but, hey, why be calm or accepting when you can finish with a flourish and feel an endorphin and dopamine spurt, and be in JOY?
Follow along: use the app Brain Based Health by EBT. Join and download it at www.EBT.org.
Here goes (and by the way, most of this is clutter from my emotional brain and has nothing to do with what the rational part of me would say):
The situation is . . . everything is terrible. The government is messed up, tech companies are ugly, stores in our community are going out of business, people are in hospitals, I can't even see my grandchild and may not for months or years . . .
I feel ANGRY that everything is so messed up. I can't stand it that NOBODY knows what they are doing. I HATE it that everybody is shut down . . . I HATE that!
I feel sad that . . . I feel alone.
I feel afraid that . . . I don't know what I'm talking about.
I feel guilty that . . . the same, who knows what is right anymore?
My unreasonable expectation? When all the rules are changing, extremes are yelling, and most people are lying or as confused and disheartened as I am . . . that life would be simple and clear and that I should know precisely what to do and when to do it. I should have clarity no matter what.
I should not have clarity no matter what. That's ridiculous. I cannot have clarity no matter what. It's a cognitive bloodbath out there! Who has clarity?!!!
I expect myself to do the best I can to connect with the love and peace inside me and appreciate that this will pass and clarity will return.
Positive, powerful thought?
I must be brave.
Essential pain? I am not in complete control.
The earned reward? Vibrancy.
Well, I'm at ONE, I have a smile on my face and some sadness in my heart, but overall, I appreciate that I have the gift of life, and that is a lot!