Sometimes life just sucks. Recently, everyone has been a little more accepting of that mindset for obvious reasons. However, there is a popular tendency to encourage people to “look on the bright side”, “find the silver lining”, or generally appreciate every tiny moment. While that’s a wonderful way to approach life, these phrases can be dangerous. Maybe some people are naturally happy most of the time, but for those that aren’t, our natural state of mind starts to feel like failure in a culture that endorses toxic positivity, pushing us even deeper into a negative mindset.
Accepting that sometimes life just sucks is freeing. You are allowed to have bad days and you are allowed to feel all of your feelings! Sometimes just vibing means letting yourself live in whatever state you find yourself in. Where does it end though? Surely I’m not suggesting that we just absorb the horrible truths of life and live miserably forever. There has to be a middle ground here. I’ve been struggling to find the perfect balance between feeling my feelings and not getting bogged down in the negative. Maybe there isn’t one, and if I stop looking I might feel better.
Herein I think lies a remedy to this issue- stop looking. I used to hyper-focus on appreciating the little things. Eventually, I found myself trying too hard. It started to weigh on me, and I thought that if I wasn’t appreciating every little thing I wasn’t living properly. When I was having a good time with friends or looking at beautiful scenery, I was already focused on trying to remember it for the future. My movie-worthy moment just turned into anxiety.
So, for the time being I’ve given up on that school of thought. Don’t get me wrong, I think loving the little things is incredibly important. Life is full of them. Enjoy them. Notice them. Soak it up. I suppose what I’m saying is don’t try so hard to live that you end up not living at all.
If surviving each day is all you can do right now, it’s enough. Just exist. That’s beautiful in itself.