Sometimes, the words and posts don't come. This is basically all I've got right now. Dealing with a lot of lemons. A lot. Trying not to drown in them. I know people would normally say: “when life hands you lemons, make lemonade!” Well, sometimes you just can't find the damn sugar.
Base image from pixeljockeyth on Flickr
I'm not the best at processing negative things in my life. In the past, I've employed what I call the “avoid it and stuff it” approach. Avoid any emotion. Avoid talking to anyone. Binge eat to stuff down any of the feelings. Keep it in. Don't show anyone you're phased – they will see it as weakness. Binge eat some more. Sleep.
Over the years of dealing with emotional and physical pain, as well as loss and grief, I know that this approach doesn't work. So despite some incredibly horrible personal circumstances right now, I'm trying a new approach to handling things:
- Feel the emotion. Express it. Let it out.
- Exhale, inhale, repeat.
- Keep repeating: “Food will not fix this. Food will not fix this. Food will not fix this.”
- Focus on controllable elements of life, no matter how small, routine, or mundane they may seem
- Talk to friends. Reach out even if it's uncomfortable. Really uncomfortable. Don't feel like you're being a bother. Open up without fear of judgement. Don't spend time on those who seem to judge or not want to help.
- Repeat in my head that that emotion doesn't equal weakness. It's a necessary part of the process.
Hopefully this process will end up working better than what I've employed in the past. Any tips you'd share for getting through a rough time?
