Hi there! It’s been a while…but I’m back! I took a hiatus from blogging for a while to study for the PHR (Professional in Human Resources) exam and I passed! :)
I hope everything is going well for you.
During my blogging break, I spent some time thinking about the kind of information that I post here and what would be most helpful for you.
My favorite hobby is listening to podcasts. I’ve learned so much about anxiety, emotions, and life through podcasts and applying what I’m learning to my own life.
These lessons that I’m learning have been so impactful in my own life, and I thought you might find them helpful as well…so here are 20 things I’m learning right now!
- The fastest way to peace is through the anxiety, not around it.
- Getting upset about experiencing anxiety is like getting upset about being hungry or needing to pee (thanks Kelly McCormick, for this one). Anxiety is an inevitable part of life. It’s not a sign of weakness. It’s a sign of being a human being with a human brain.
- We are not taught to feel and process our emotions. We’re taught to numb our emotions, resist them, or pretend they don’t exist.
- The worst thing that can ever happen is a negative emotion, and there is no emotion that I can’t feel.
- Many of us believe that if we allow ourselves to feel anxiety or another negative emotion, we’ll get “stuck” in it an we’ll never find our way out. This is not how emotions work. When you allow yourself to feel an emotion without resisting it, the average emotion lasts 90 seconds.
- If you feel “stuck” in an emotion, that’s because you’re resisting it or you’re continuing to re-fuel it over and over with your thoughts.
- Most people have some kind of vice they use to numb their emotions. Sometimes, it’s something obvious like alcohol or drugs. Other times, it’s something more subtle like food, sugar, overspending, Netflix, social media, video games, overworking, or keeping themselves busy.
- The better I get at allowing myself to feel negative emotion (instead of resisting it), the happier I am. It sounds counterintuitive, but it’s true.
- So much of our pain and suffering comes from resisting reality. We resist circumstances that are beyond our control, we try to change other people, and we even resist our own thoughts and emotions.
- Acceptance will bring more peace than resistance ever will. Peace is not found in certainty and control. Peace is found in surrendering control and accepting uncertainty.
- Expect other people to be exactly who they are. Wishing they were different is a waste of time and energy. Other people are just doing the best they can. Sometimes their best is pretty terrible, but that’s okay.
- Life is 50/50 (thanks, Brooke Castillo, for this one)…half amazing, half awful, and everything in between. No amount of money or success will change the fact that life sucks half the time…and that’s okay.
- Pain and suffering exist for a reason. Pain teaches us things that we wouldn’t be able to learn if life were perfect and happy all of the time.
- I believe the reason God put us on this Earth is to learn and grow.
- I have the exact life I was meant to have. Sometimes it sucks, sometimes it’s awesome, and that’s exactly the way it’s supposed to be.
- I’ve had the exact relationships I was supposed to have. Some people came into my life and stayed forever, and others didn’t. That’s okay. Sometimes relationships are “complete” and those chapters of our lives end.
- Human beings are also 50/50. We were created in the image of God, which means we all have light and goodness within us AND we are all imperfect and we all sin.
- Half of the time you’ll get it right, and the other half the time you’ll be a complete mess. That’s okay. Stop putting so much pressure on yourself.
- You’ll never be 100% caught up, and that’s okay. That never ending to do list just keeps expanding…but that’s actually a good thing. How boring would life be if you were 100% caught up and you had nothing to do? Then what?
- The world is always getting worse AND it’s always getting better. (Thanks, Jody Moore, for this one). If you believe the narrative that the world is getting more dangerous, more politically divisive, more expensive, etc. your brain will collect evidence for that belief (this is called confirmation bias). What if you believed that the world was always getting better? Your brain would start collecting evidence for that…and guess what? You can find just as much evidence for the idea that the world is always getting better… and that belief feels a million times better.
It’s your turn…what have you been learning lately? Share in the comments :)
Take care and have a blessed day!
Forgiveness frees you to experience joy again.