The reality is that life is full of unpleasant experiences. The ability to effectively deal with obstacles and setbacks and return to healthy psychological functioning is a sign of resilience. Mental health and well-being aren’t achieved by eradicating all problems from our lives but by learning how to deal with them effectively…
Happiness vs Well-Being
Have you ever noticed how life is full of paradoxes? For example:
Failure often leads to success.
Coming to terms with death can help us better appreciate life.
The more you learn, the more you realize how little you know.
As soon as you stop wanting something, you get it.
Here’s another one of life’s paradoxes: If we want to experience the positive, we must also be willing to experience the negative.
My "Awakening"
Isn’t it interesting how we can intellectually understand a piece of wisdom but not practice it in our daily lives?
I’d like to tell you about a hard-won truth I recently internalized after many years.
I’ll sum it up in a sentence and then tell you more about my experience:
The willingness to face uncomfortable emotions is the path to inner peace…
How the Story Goes
For the past couple weeks, I haven’t been feeling like myself. I’ve been physically exhausted, emotionally burnt out, creatively stagnant, and psychologically depressed. I’ve been feeling like I’ve been battling an invisible monster.
On top of it all, I’ve also been feeling like a fraud: Even though I know many strategies to help me deal with these kinds of obstacles, I haven’t been using them. This has caused me to question my very credibility as a teacher, which has taken me down several dark rabbit holes.
Then, a couple days ago, I had an insight that stabilized my mood and gave me some hope and motivation. It was something I already knew but had forgotten…