Life can be overwhelming at times, and lately it feels like everything is so much more acute. All of our feelings are so much more visceral and so much more 0 to 100, I don’t know if we’re willing to simply sit with out feelings a lot more. It’s all reaction based. A couple of days ago, I was having a moment with myself and as my often overthinking mind wandered, added to this, I wasn’t feeling like myself. Feeling down, I blame impending hormones, but in the middle of my wallowing, I asked myself, what is a lie you tell yourself? What do you believe to be true that simply isn’t? So, from that this blog post was born, this week on the blog, we’re going to discuss the lies we tell ourselves and how damaging it can be, read along with us.
I had a set back, I’m normally an optimistic, positive thinking person, but recently I’ve been filling my own head with untruths and negative thoughts. Some things, I know deep down aren’t true, but sometimes in your darkest times, you feel down, so you continue to spiral with more and more untruths, till they eventually become something you geniunely believe. Despite my best efforts. I know, personally that when I’m not feeling so good, it’s a lot easier for me to take those thoughts much more realistically and in some ways spiral downward into more negative feelings. I have worked on stopping myself and telling myself the things I know which are true. Which is why my gratitude journal has been working for me. It keeps me grounded, but it also keeps me focused on the things which are true. In some ways, it stops me from overthinking about the things I cannot control.
Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference.
Your biggest commitment, must always be to yourself.
Brigett Devoue
I don’t know if it’s the influence of Insta culture or if it’s feeling that I should have it figured out. Or maybe the biggest one of all is the fact that I’ve had a relationship setback ( which I didn’t see coming ) and it’s knocked my confidence in ways I never expected. Feeling like I’m not good enough or that there is something about me that makes me hard to love. Maybe I’m too “stable”, not as interesting as I used to be, I don’t know- but I suppose this is where my overthinking mind takes over. The unknown has my head spinning and filling with reasons why it’s my fault. Of course, deep down, I know it’s not true and ultimately life will unfold how its meant to unfold. I need to let go of the things I cannot control and I most certainly cannot control a person and how they feel about me. What I also know, is that this is only temporary, I will feel better and soon enough I’ll be back to my optimistic self. The key is to know that all of this isn’t permanent, life is fluid and so are feelings. The lies, I tell myself, the lies I feel are just that- lies. I am capable of so much, I have accomplished so much and everyday- I show up. At the end of the day, my feelings do NOT define me.
If I could allow myself to pass any advice on, I would say- breathe. Take it in slices, 1 day at a time, 1 hour at a time, 1 minute at a time. If you have to. Don’t look at how you’re feeling, because you know you’re not feeling quite yourself. Re-shift your focus, on the things you know to be true. Look around at your surroundings, what do you know to be true? Lastly, I go to nature- there is nothing like a beautiful stream, running water or a beautiful sunset to make me realize that there are things bigger than me. Just like the famous quote goes, “grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference“.
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