It’s Ok to Say this Sucks.

[The song for this post is “Bad Day” by Daniel Powter.]

Last week I had a telemedicine doctor’s appointment. This was a previously scheduled necessary follow up appointment. My doctor thought it best to have the appointment via telemedicine at this time. What an experience that was but that’s not what I’m here to write about today.

My appointment started the way it always does. My doctor checked in with me. She asked me about work, how everything was going during this time of remote work, and so on. This is actually one of the things I love about my doctor. She always treats me like a person and focuses on the human being in front of her. I told her everything was good. I told her all the various reasons I counted myself lucky during this pandemic. She responded by saying, “that’s good but remember it’s also ok to say this sucks.”

She’s right of course. I think many of us right now are caught up in the “I’m safe and healthy” narrative, especially when we see everything that is going on around us for others. We forget to allow ourselves the permission to also acknowledge that it still sucks for us too. Yes, I’m lucky. Yes, I’m blessed. Yes, I’m thankful for all that but also yes, this sucks.

We all have our reasons to want to be upset with what’s going on right now. We can be thankful at all times while also acknowledging that it’s still the absolute worst.

Since my follow up with  my doctor I’ve taken the time to acknowledge when I’m sad/upset/angry/frustrated/disappointed, you name it, about what’s going on so that I don’t forget that it’s ok to feel this way from time to time. It’s not self-pity. It’s acknowledging the emotions we may feel at this particular time or at any given time based on our circumstances.

When I take the time to acknowledge these feelings I take the time to sit with them. I take the time to acknowledge that I’m human. With being human comes my range of emotions about everything going on. I think I often feel like acknowledging or stating out loud how I feel about what’s going on right now is not justified to share because so many have it worse. While I know that to be true it’s also ok to acknowledge how I might feel about what’s going on for my own reasons. At any given time each one of us is going through something which causes us to feel a range of emotions for various reasons.

How about we all just allow ourselves to feel exactly what we feel?

Yesterday, I was feeling everything. I allowed myself to feel it all. I wasn’t looking for solutions. Rather, I wanted to feel it all. I needed to feel it all.

Today, is a new day and as one of my favorite Pelton instructors says, “it’s a good day to have a good day.”

Who knows what tomorrow will be like but I know I’ll stay in the here and now to allow myself to feel whatever it is I need to feel. That in itself is staying human and true to myself through it all.

[Photo is from Pexels.]