EYC0007 Positivity Through Your Struggle

Today’s episode is about recognizing positivity through your struggle. Seriously is that even possible?  I’m here to tell you – Yes, yes it is!  

This may seem a bit outside your reach and I question if that’s really the case.  There are some reasons why.  I know folks are in all different places in their hurts… 

  • You may be newly struggling and feeling overwhelmed with emotions and information.
  • You may be recognizing periods of contentment and you may or may not be welcoming or accepting that.
  • You may feel like a veteran in your situation.  You’ve been learning about your struggle, your hurts are familiar and you are having good days and bad days, and that’s all okay.

Where ever you are, however you are feeling… positivity is always a worth while topic. 

I want you to think about this… just because we have come upon some tough times, does that mean we feel hurt, upset … you fill in that blank, all the time?

Honestly, you do not.  

  • We do not grieve 24 hours a day… we do not feel anger 24 hours a day we do not feel sorrow 24 hours a day.  
  • Emotions are fleeting… they come and go.  
  • It may seem that they linger… but they do change and can change moment to moment.  

We have choices to make, are we going to live at the mercy of the emotions?  Or are we going to catch the glimpses of feeling better so that we can continue with intermittent feelings that we identify as the feel good emotions?  

Let’s acknowledge a few things here…

  • You may be experiencing intense emotions that are needing your attention – it doesn’t seem possible to find positivity.
  • You may have become comfortable within the hurt.  You may remain connected to your loss through your hurt… You may even believe this is how you are supposed to live now, within this hurt.
  • You may even feel guilt or discomfort when you actually recognize you are enjoying yourself or you are not living in the suffering.

What are the threats/stresses that keep you from recognizing all sorts of things around you?

I’d like to put a challenge out there to you.  I’d like to challenge you to “take in the good.”  Just in little bits and pieces and then build upon it. It’s an amazing process.  When I learned about this, I didn’t realize just how much I was in my own head, in my own thoughts.  I really was not exploring my world.  I’ve been practicing this for many years now and I’ll be honest, I fall off the positivity track now and again.  Just like any other skill, it takes practice.

What does it mean to take in the good?  It is so simple in theory… 

  1. Get out of your head…
  2. Look around you and what do you notice?
  3. Do you see something of interest, of beauty or of humor?
  4. Stay with what you notice for 5 seconds and then build to 1 minute to 5 minutes if you can.
  5. Notice how you experience those 5 seconds, that 1 minute in your mind and body. 

This is the premise of the Positive Intentions I began on YouTube… short and quick intentional thoughts or positivity.  It doesn’t have to be a profound 30 minutes of anything.  It is simply learning to live in the moment.

That’s it!  The goal is to start to create a body memory for the good, not just the hurts.  I want you to recognize when you feel good and know it’s okay to feel that way.    Some tips are:

  • Share the experience with another person When the experience is shared, we tend to sit in the good for a bit longer and it becomes more memorable.  
  • Take pictures of these moments and create an album in your smart phone or tablet so that you can reference when you need it. 

Are you up for the challenge?  This is how we begin to acclimate to positivity after a life altering hurt.  It’s a gradual progression.  You had this in you before… you can find this in you again.  Please leave your comments here at julieblackburnlcpc.com under the show notes for this episode. 

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4 thoughts on “EYC0007 Positivity Through Your Struggle”

  1. I have cultivated a similar practice through photography — reflecting on at least one moment a day that brings me joy or peace or wisdom. Piggybacking on your “emotions are fleeting” — I find mantras helpful when going through challenging experiences or feelings. Dax Shepard recently shared this one that I really like: “This is temporary.” Short & Sweet mantras can bring me great support–especially during the holidays : )

    1. I’m so glad you shared the mantra “This is temporary.” It is so true. I love that you practice holding onto joy with your photography. Do you keep those images to yourself or do you share them?

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