I Miss My Family (Why It's OK to Feel Sad)

Gooood Tuesday morning, beautiful.

Today's post is going to be a bit different than my usual upbeat, happy-go-lucky emails.

I always, always try to be positive and see the bright side in situations, but sometimes I'm just downright sad.

Right now, I miss my family. I miss my friends. I miss not having to use a GPS to get every freakin' place I go. I miss all my favorite restaurants, coffee shops, gym families and the familiarity of my day-to-day life that I built over 20+ years.

These are first world problems, I know. I'm blessed to have moved to a completely new place and get the opportunity to 'start fresh' -- meet new people, try new things, build a new family.

But sometimes it's OK to just... feel sad.

In the self development world, I've seen TOO many times that "you're in complete control of your emotions! (truth) and to turn your frown upside down; never let 'em see you sweat! (false)"

While we ARE in complete control of our emotions, that doesn't mean we'll never feel a negative emotion again.

In fact, there was a time in my life when I did everything possible to avoid those uncomfortable feelings.

Broke up with a boyfriend? No time to cry. I'd immediately invest ALL my time and energy into my job, working out, whatever else.

Family problems? It's OK -- I'll mask the pain by eating myself to death and spending hours in the gym the next day to make up for it.

We all have our ways of coping/masking our emotions, whether that's through drugs, alcohol, sex, porn, food, working out.

We do all of these things in order to ESCAPE. To run away from our feelings.

But what if we just sat in our feelings and really FELT them?

That's what I do now:

I understand it's OK to feel sad. It's a normal human emotion and there's nothing wrong with me. I'm not broken. I'm not depressed. I don't need to run to the doctor and have him prescribe me antidepressants.

I'm sad. It's normal - just like being happy, angry, joyful, etc.

Instead of masking that sadness, I let myself FEEL it. I embrace it. I cry. I journal. I breathe deeply.

I don't try to run from it or avoid it anymore, simply because I know that trying to mask it just adds to my sadness, it doesn't take it away.

So if you're feeling sad, please know there's nothing wrong with you. You're not broken. Breathe into your emotions. If you need to talk to a friend, call them. If you need to just journal and cry alone, process it.

And after you've had a good ole' cry, wipe those tears, beautiful.

Life goes on.

You won't be sad forever.

You ARE in control of your emotions - which means yes, cry and do what you need to do to process what you're going through.

But remember to find joy in the things that are right in front of you, right now.

Because even when it seems like there's nothing to look forward to, nothing to live for, and you have thoughts like 'wtf is the point of it all?'... there IS a point. There's a reason you're still here. There's still a job to be done by you on this beautiful earth.

So show up.

Be authentic.

Feel what you need to feel.

Then move on.

<3

If you EVER, ever need to chat, I am here.

LOVE, love, love ya!

xoxo

Julie