life lenses

I have been sad for a little while – ever since my mum died last year. The thing is, I have also been living sad, and I think there is a big difference.

I know it’s important for me to look at my sad feelings and not to put them aside – to be authentic and feel what I am feeling. But I also think it’s important not to become defined by those thoughts.

I tell myself all the time that I have a choice of lens through which to view my life. Like at the optometrist, when you sit in the chair with those big weird glasses and they flick different lenses past you to see which one allows you the best view of your world.

But I realised last night that it’s just been rhetoric; I’ve been saying the words but I haven’t actually been choosing anything other than a sadness lens.

So, I have decided to choose to live happier. I am choosing happiness.

I’m not planning to ignore my sad feelings, when they arise. But I am, once again, expecting joy. I am, once again, anticipating the best in the people and the experiences around me. I am re-claiming the space I used to have for the brilliant, life-affirming stuff that makes my head and heart expand.