I struggle sometimes with a lot of the buzz words & phrases, which are being manifested in our society and especially in the self-development sector. Phrases like: Follow your dreams, chase your aspiration, live your passion, as well as with values like “to be consistent and committed”. Those are generally positively associated but they also display a psychological unexpected burden, which we might carry with us. Especially during a challenging chapter in our lives, when we feel fear, doubt or we lose our path.
The buzz words put their weight on us in terms of what we might want to live up to them / make progress towards them, as they may be associated with social and emotional success in our society. Being unable to move towards those, as we are going through tough times, may unintentionally make us jeopardise our own self-image, as we are holding ourselves accountable and worthy with regards to this indoctrinated evaluation standard.
Thus, due to this imbalance of adequately valuing & talking openly also about the acceptance and existence of the downside emotions “fear, doubt, losing owns path” might cause that the initial positive and inspiring buzz words are actually dragging us down. They are dragging us down in times when we feel an obligation to live up to them which might even lead to the creation of a more severe downward spiral, which makes it harder to get back up.
Generally, I believe those challenging times are necessary to make us appreciate the good times more as they provide a balance. The tough chapters are part of our life’s that might want to teach us new perspectives. But above all, I believe, by putting extra attention to the downside emotions and their existence and their equal importance in life, we can enjoy the whole journey to a greater degree, as we decrease the weight from the buzz word, which might drag us down as we want to live up to them.
Through the acceptance, we become healthier and by talking more about our negatives emotions we might raise their awareness and acceptability in the society, which can increase the overall quality of life, as we might go through tough times “healthier” as we have less of a burden to carry.
After all, a little grief and downtime help to appreciate the value of the little things we already have in life. It's quite a good reminder of what we sometimes forget that we have or privileged to experience. Even the toughest times will pass by sharing the sorrow with the loved ones and friends to get it out of the system when we are ready for it.