Suffer the bad to appreciate the good.
I've had a bad life. There's no doubt about that.
If I was to write it all out for everyone to read I think a good percentage of you would be completely shocked. It's probably why I like to promote positivity and inclusiveness. It's a way of shedding the bad, and healing myself a little.
Bad spells in life are exactly what they are. You can't control them. They just happen.
A bad spell could last for a minute, an hour, a couple of days, months, years or even decades. It just depends what situation you are in at the time and how much control you have over yourself.
My Dad died a couple of years back. That was a bad spell for me. Because out of the thirty odd years I knew him he never once gave me a hug or told me that he loved me.
I took it hard.
Because that was it. There was no going back now. He had his chance to rectify the bad and make it all good again. I had zero control over that, and it took me time to get over his death.
And bad spells can be like that.
I stubbed my little pinky toe on my right foot yesterday. I felt horrible for at least 5 minutes. And it swelled up like a balloon.
Another bad spell.
I would say I was in a good state of mind right now and life is pretty good. I don't have much bothering me right now at all.
And I think back to when times were hard, and the pain and suffering. And I think, Christ, I really appreciate that things are good right now. I don't want to be feeling like that again.
And I feel this overwhelming urge to take that pain I've previously had and use it as a tool to help others avoid making the mistakes that I have, or, more importantly navigate through the waves of darkness themselves.
Do you ever feel like that?
The need to share experience to help others?
And that's why the bad doesn't feel as bad anymore. I mean I have a nice life, a nice family, good things and a roof over my head - and the next time I experience something bad I know I won't be alone.
But more importantly I'll be able to look into myself and think - don't worry, at the end of this you'll really be able to appreciate the good life again. And you can help others who were going through what I did.
A problem shared is a problem halved.
Acceptance is a great mindset to have when I'm going through a rough patch. Knowing exactly what parts of my situation I can change and accepting those parts that I can't helps. It helps a lot.
Because there's nothing harder than getting upset about a situation I can't change. That leads to a lot of nasty feelings.
Ride the waves of change my friend,
And be the best version of yourself that you can be! :)
Yes yes and yes!
@lifeisawesome
Thank you for you infinite wisdom dear privilaged westernerner.
Please teach us more from your own unique perspective
And yet you've just found the negative from a wholly positive post. Maybe that says more about you.. than me? :)
75% of people on this planet do not have food, water and shelter on a daily basis.
16.000 children die everyday from hunger
15.000.000 children are slaves
....
You can answer to yourself what it says about you and what about me.
And what do you do, sir, to change that? Do you live by example and try and make a difference?
Or do you just use it as a weapon to try and bring others down when they may be feeling good about themselves?
I'm all for positive change in this world. I can say that I live by example.
Can you? :)
I agree with both of you and @kyriacos don't do this, please. Like @lifeisawesome said you changed something positive in something negative. No matter what we will do, the reality will be worst than we know.
I agree with him too - life is super super super tough for a good portion in the world. Being a westerner, he's right, I'm super privileged. And I'd love to help - but using it to bring me down isn't cool :(
Bad spells every year that can last all year at the moment have around 5-6 really bad spells that I cant shake off.... love the post motivation to continue to fight and look ahead.
Thanks! Hope you can muddle through it!
Side note; loving the whale bots attached to your gills:) keep it up.
Nice post! Keep sharing the love ;D
Thanks man :)
You welcome, thank you too!
I heard that you used to write for another website. I was just curious - is this what you typically wrote about there? How does this community compare to your previous one regarding interactions with readers? You seem to be engaging here and already have a considerable amount of popularity!
I think it'll be time to write an introduction post soon - I've wrote a lot about my past but I've yet to write about my present and my ideas for the future - so I think I'll do that soon.
I used to write and engage with my local community in my last job - but as for writing on a worldwide platform like this? No, first time. I just thought I could take the positive attitude and the cohesion I created locally to a wider audience.
A lot of people are following me, and I must say, I'm loving it, but more importantly people are leaving positive comments to me and each other. It's lovely to see :)
Positivity = an instant feeling of happiness :)
Oh, cool - that should be interesting to hear about! I was under the impression that you did write for a worldwide website (a very well-known one, at that). Should be interesting nonetheless. I look forward to your intro!
While there's life, there is hope.
While there's hope, there are dreams.
While there's dream, there is faith.
While there's faith, there is the success.
While there's success, there will be happiness.
That's all about in life, to be happy! Great post .
Lovely little poem. Thank you :)
Nice article. This reminds me of--perhaps--my favorite quote about bad times and growth, from Aeschylus:
Even in our sleep, pain which cannot forget
falls drop by drop upon the heart,
until, in our own despair,
against our will,
comes wisdom
through the awful grace of God.
Lovely, thank you very much for that :) - that's beautiful :)
Removing illusions from your mind, is the only way to live in reality with both your mind and your body !
This is true. But sometimes it's good to dream, no? Then we'd never aspire to be better :)
I know exactly how you feel. My bad spell is not over, but somewhere during it, I am began to learn coping skills. I still have bad days, but they are less bad than they were. If I look back and see how far I've come, it gets me through the bad, sometimes. The main thing, is you must make the decision to cope, it won't just happen by itself.
This is very true. Coping skills are paramount to riding the waves of change :) Sometimes change can be a bad thing, and we need to learn how to cope.