Have you ever felt like you’ve reached your bad news quota for a lifetime? I keep thinking I must be sending the memo to the wrong universe because the bad news doesn’t stop.
I had some bad news yesterday. In fact, two not-so-great things have happened almost in a row. I know bad news is a relative term for everyone. My news is definitely not life-threatening and I didn’t lose anyone near and dear to my heart. (And, thankfully, I still have power, water, and heat.)
But the fact is that the saying “life happens” came about for a reason. And I’m certainly not the only one on the planet dealing with bad news. I’m at my “how do I deal with it” crossroads. I can choose to let it get me upset or let it go and move on. The letting go is sometimes easier said then done.
Based on past experience, I’ve learned that being upset doesn’t fix or change things. In fact, it’s most likely bad for my health and the people around me.
Right now, I’m trying the “exercise-to-shake-it-off” plan. (In my opinion), keeping things bottled up inside can be just as harmful. My current theory is that it’s possible to cry my upset feelings away in tears of sweat. I’ll let you know how it goes. It’s worked for me in the past.
Don’t exercise? No worries. You can bottle it up outside yourself. As a dear friend reminded me: Put your troubling thoughts in an empty jar and put the lid on. If you must revisit them, maybe you can wait until after the emotional charge has lifted.
I also know from experience that taking time to focus on what you’re grateful for helps to shift what seems to be a bad news spiral. And even the bad news can be traced to something good. For example, if something needs to be repaired in your home, you can be grateful that you have a home to live in. And, as Valentine’s Day reminded me, there’s always really dark chocolate.
Once again, I also look to nature’s messages. I’m going to assume the critters in this blog post eventually get to a point where it’s no longer worth it, and at least one of them lets it go and moves on. The question is how much energy are they willing to invest to get there? I’m guessing they both know when to let it go and walk away.