This is part 13 of my 'Led By Heart' series for the 31-day writing challenge. You can find the list of all my 31 posts here. Click here to check out the other participating blogs!
I wish I could think of some easy advise.
I could tell you that everything will be better tomorrow. But maybe you've been through many tomorrows and nothing's changed.
I could tell you to hold on to hope. But maybe you've been clinging to it for what seems like forever and yet hope is still the only thing that you have.
I could tell you about the silver linings. But maybe you can't even see the edge of that cloud.
I could tell you to think positively, to try and change your perspective, to set a new, better intention. But maybe you’ve heard that a million times and you know that that’s what you should do, but for some reason you can’t. Not today.
So I’m going to tell you this instead. Sit down quietly for a minute. Put your hand over your heart. Take a deep breath. Feel the rhythm of its beating.
What should I do?
Write. Dance. Sing. Go out. Run. Create. And do it for you, because it makes you happy.
Connect. Reach out to others.
Do not fall into that trap of thinking that you’re the only one in the world who’s going through this. We all are at one point or another. Don’t think that nobody can understand you, because they can. We can.
I also find that when you reach out to someone else to help them, you are actually healing yourself, too.
When we feel disheartened, there’s a part of us which wants to keep us just there; it gets tempted and attracted to that illusory sweetness of sorrow and sadness, and would like to soak us in it. I personally call this part of us the ego.
If you can do just one thing, decide that you’re not going to trust that voice that’s been recounting you all the sad, hopeless stories. They are lies.
And maybe you don’t know what the Truth is right now. But when you recognize the lies, the Truth will start shining more and more brightly.
It will put your heart back to its place.
I'd love to know...
What do you do when you feel disheartened? What has been helping you?
I especially loved what you said about reaching out to others... recently I was going through a tough patch when a friend of mine called and told me she had just met someone who needed to be taken to the grocery store and could I do it? I did, pretty much twice a month. It was such a good thing for my heart and helped me get outside of my own heartache, stress and emotional exhaustion.
ReplyDeleteYes, it's really quite healing to 'get out of your own shadow' and do something for others, and you were blessed with a wonderful opportunity!
DeleteThanks for stopping by, Faith!
Wise words, my friend. Reaching out to others when we feel disheartened is a wonderful way to renew our own hope. A burden shared is a burden lessened--sharing with a trusted friend also helps (one that won't try to 'fix' you or gossip about you or criticize you)--although I try not to share too often because I don't want to seem whiney ;).
ReplyDelete