Sometimes we feel a little sad.
Or maybe it seems that we are small in a big world.
We see all that is happening in the broader realm, and we worry, or we simply do not understand.
Somedays, it feels like we might be standing at the very bottom of the abyss, the chasm, the gorge.
Yeppers. Our feet are planted in the bottom of the gully. And we feel a pang. A pang of something lowly. It twinges, and there we are.
On those kinds of days, when you have a lowly pang, even ice cream won’t help.
Sadness, and depression, are two different things. Sadness is a normal emotion. We’ve all known it, and we most likely will know it again. It can make life more interesting, that variation in our mood.
It is akin to the change in the seasons. If we were happy all the time, we wouldn’t know to appreciate those feelings of the pleasant. Sadness helps us appreciate those happier, snappier times.
In many cases, it is generated by a loss, of some sort. When we say goodbye to someone, or something, or even a some time, we feel that bit of despair. That pit.
Most likely, our moods will eventually shift back to the lighter, easier side.
But while we are in the thick of things, we should allow ourselves to be sad. Squelching those feelings won’t help. Our society often denies sadness immediately. People say, “snap out of it,” or “chin up.” “Turn that frown upside down, little camper.”
At which point, if it were up to me, one would have full permission to slap them a good one. I think that denying those feelings only forces them deeper into our beings. And if they get stuck down there, they can do more damage with time. Sort of how your Mom said your eyes would stay that way when you crossed them. Deep pits of sadness? Same thing.
So, if you find sadness creeping in, cry if you feel like it. Or write about it, or talk about it. At the very least, acknowledge it.
If nothing else, find some baby goats, or puppies. They are great listeners, and they my give you a reason to chuckle, despite the blue mood.
Always remember, your place in the world is miraculous by its very existence. Every minute has lined up, in all of history, for you to be sitting there right now, exactly. It all had to happen in that exact sequence. And here you are. Here we are. The all of us.
And, from this point, we just take the next moment as it comes.
One second at a time. And that is what we do.
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“You cannot protect yourself from sadness without protecting yourself from happiness.”
― Jonathan Safran Foer
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“Every man has his secret sorrows which the world knows not; and often times we call a man cold when he is only sad.”
― Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
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“Forever is composed of nows.”
― Emily Dickinson
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