People often come to me when they are going through some of the toughest times in their life. Losing a loved one. A job loss. Divorce. They want to know how to feel better immediately, how to rush through the pain, how to move on.
Sometimes, the only way out is through. Sitting with the hard emotions, giving them words. I often have patients label emotions at the end of each day through a feeling sheet. There are many ways to describe sadness. Do you feel grief? Heartbreak? Longing?
Sitting with the hard emotions, without the judgment and the desire to avoid them. Without an agenda.
Asking yourself, what wisdom to these emotions share? Emotions often tell us what is valuable to us, what truly matters. If you feel strong emotions about something or someone, it means that it is important to you.
Remembering that you can do hard things. What hard things have you gotten through before? How did you do them?
How can you find a little bit of comfort? When going through a tough time in my life a couple years ago, I felt the deepest grief from a loss I had in my life but also found comfort in running. For you, where can you find even brief moments of joy? Maybe it is in a new friendships, moments of joy with your kids or pet, or a hobby. How can you find some comfort AND also feel the hard feelings?