Love is the perfect antidote. Visualize and feel all the things you love, and all that love you, in your heart. Do you love to garden? See and feel this blessed action of love in your heart and love it. Do you have a friend who loves you? Visualize and feel that love in your heart. Do you have a friend who you love? Visualize and feel that love in your heart. Did you ever have your parents' love? Visualize and feel that love in your heart. Do you have children or brothers or sisters who love you and who you love? Visualize and feel that love in your heart.--------------------------->
"Infinitely more than an act of caring, compassion is the deep knowing that it is not the circumstance which defines you, but rather your own sense of wholeness carrying forward into whatever the circumstance may hold.
"With compassion, judgments are set aside for there is no room for both to exist simultaneously. True compassion comes completely from the heart, devoid of judgment, devoid of hierarchy.
"Throughout your journey, always reach inward for your compassion first, for it is your vehicle of connection. When you are compassionate, you are you."--------------------------------------------------------->
Sadness isn't always bad. In fact, it serves as a vital emotion that can inform and enrich every aspect of our lives.
Sometimes in our pursuit of happiness, we forget that melancholy forms a valid and important part of our emotional spectrum. In fact, it's a necessary part of growth and of life. How could one be considered "alive" -- much less sensitive, honest, and intelligent -- without responding to the often cruel and confusing world we live in with some sorrow.
So rather than try to pretend that sad feelings don't exist, learn to recognize, honor, and even celebrate your blue emotions.
Try these tips for giving your sad feelings their due:
Grant yourself permission to be sad. Denying blue feelings will only force them underground (where they can do some real damage). Deal with them honestly in the full light so you can get a grip on what they are and what they mean.
Have a blues day. Schedule a day or evening just to be alone, listen to pensive music, and to catalog your thoughts and feelings. Knowing that you've got a whole day to be unhappy can be satisfying and even strangely uplifting.
Give sadness a name. Can you identify the cause of your sad feelings? Are they tied to a personal loss or another unhappy event? Get to the bottom of your feelings. And give it time -- don't rush yourself into a false explanation. (A therapist can, of course, be a big help in this process.)
Think of unhappy feelings as growing pains for adults. They may be signs of some impending changes you need to make in your life. Honor the signals you're sending yourself and take the course of behavior they are guiding you toward.
Know when sadness turns into depression. Sadness is one thing; depression is another -- and a potentially damaging and dangerous thing, at that. Signs that you're experiencing clinical depression rather than just a bout of the blues include changes in appetite or weight, disrupted sleep patterns, thoughts of death and suicide, loss of interest in beloved activities, and feelings of intense lethargy. If you're experiencing these or other symptoms of depression, immediately seek out a qualified therapist to help you work through your painful feelings.
Prepared by Eden Fairchild for Dreamlife