Today, I want to talk about sadness in general. It doesn’t always have to be grief that can cause sadness. There can be outside influences that effect us. Internal influences such as hormones and brain chemicals can do it too. Seeing that ASPCA commercial can trigger sadness. BUT- no matter what has triggered that sadness, we all have every right to feel whatever it is we need to feel. No one has the right to disparage our feelings. No one has the right to try to make our feelings insignificant. Sometimes when people are angry they lash out at those who care about them trying to find their weak spots. Those people should be loved anyway- even when they make us sad. My best friend told me a story of someone she cares for ripping into her about her postpartum depression simply because this person is incapable of coping with their own negative emotions concerning a relationship gone sour. Ones immediate response when faced with this type of situation is usually going to be “How dare you!?” And initially my friend felt that way- but then she considered the things that were going on and she came to the conclusion that she was shocked by her friend, and hurt by her friend -but that her friend’s actions stemmed from some serious sadness. When we are ill equipped to cope with the often overwhelming feeling of negative emotions, logic tends to flee the scene and we can become irrational hateful beings. The only way I know how to explain why is this- the old cliche is true- “Misery loves company.” I have been feeling extra sad myself lately. These last few days have been very hard on my soul and my heart- both of which are already battered. There are some things occurring which I have no control over and no way to help and it hurts to have to admit that to myself. I am unable to do anything for someone I love ever so dearly- all I can do is wait until opportunity presents itself. Until then I am stuck in this back and forth of guilt and sadness. It has nothing to do with right and wrong because it is abundantly clear what the right thing to do is. But it still hurts. When my ladybug was still here and she would become sad- I would tickle her and love on her until she came out of it. It seemed like a good way to help her at the time- now I feel like that was not me teaching her to cope but simply replacing one emotion with another. It’s taken me a very long time to realize replacing emotions doesn’t fix anything- it just delays the moment that you are dreading to face. So the next time you feel sad- take the time to FEEL that sadness. Feel it, become familiar with it, and accept it. Then find a way to not let it overwhelm you because that is so easily done. Pray, sing, cry, run, paint- whatever it is you need to do to help you deal- do it. And let me know how it goes.