Whacked Out

Life doesn’t always turn out like you expect it to. Now there’s a statement everybody can agree on! I mean everybody. I don’t think there is a single person in the world who would say, “Naw, that’s not true. It always works out the way I expect it to.”

So, if this is true, why do we get so whacked out when things don’t go our way?

I’ll tell you why…because it feels crappy when it happens. You expected this and instead it was that. Disappointed, enraged, out of sorts, depressed, lost, hurt, angry, deflated, frustrated, overwhelmed, grief-stricken. Some would say the best way out of this mess is to not have any expectations to begin with. What I realize is without expectations…like of things working out that way I had planned…I have no excitement in my life. Every day is slow and low and boring.

Don’t get me wrong…I’ve learned to let a lot of things roll off my back. But still, there are some things that happen that are too painful or exhausting to let go of right then and there.

So here is what I think. You just gotta let yourself feel it. Give yourself the space to feel it. Don’t lock it away somewhere or pretend it’s all okay when it isn’t. Allow yourself to feel it…all of it. Don’t burden someone else with it, or worse, take it out on them…just go ahead and experience it. Consciously. When you can, take some deep breaths, go to bed early, take a long walk, sit and stare, take a few days off from work or other obligations, call a friend, ask for some help. But before that…let yourself go through it.

And then remember…this too shall pass.

Thank God, this too shall pass.
Paula