Pathwalking 127
What do you do when it feels like it’s all for naught?
How do you handle that feeling of being on the verge of tears, ready but unable to cry, in pain physical or emotional? What do you do when you feel as if all of your efforts, all of your brave talk and tough choices feel as though they mean nothing?
Don’t fight it. Let it out. Feel the sadness. Feel the disappointment. Cry if you can. Sigh and shake your head and lament that it all feels as if you cannot win no matter how hard you try.
But the key is to let it out. Don’t hold on to it, don’t give all your attention and energy to it. Don’t let that feeling dominate your every move, your every action. Release it in whatever way you can. Tomorrow is another day.
I had a bad day today. I was told something about the impression I am making on some people that upset me, someone I care about who was already disappointing me upset me further, and in an effort to do something that normally makes me feel better an annoying injury I had has become far worse.
I want to scream. I want to cry. I want to curl up into a ball and give up and just tell everyone and everything in the universe to bugger off. I want to lament the foolishness of my own idea, my own philosophy, because here I am at the end of a bad day, angry, hurt, sad and in pain. Maybe I need to do all of those things at once.
Yes, today was a lousy day. But this is going to happen. Life has bad days. No matter how much you try not to be a victim, sometimes you simply are. Some circumstances you simply cannot avoid.
The question now is – will my bad day today spill into tomorrow?
The answer lies with me.
Today will spill into tomorrow if I allow it to. If I let this emotional state carry over from today into tomorrow, then the odds are tomorrow will be as bad a day as today. And if I really put the energy into the idea that tomorrow is going to suck too, then odds increase that tomorrow will in fact be even worse.
If I wake up in the morning expecting the physical pain to be worse, if I expect the dark cloud that has been hovering over me all day today to be with me tomorrow, then I am probably right.
“Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t – you’re right.”– Henry Ford. This is one of the most true statements you will ever come across. How you perceive yourself, or your situation, chances are that is how it will predominately be.
Just because I have had a bad day does not mean all of my efforts are for naught. Because life is full of ups and downs, because for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction, because there is both yin and yang, black and white and all other dualities, one bad day, no matter how bad, does not negate the effort.
Pathwalking is not a one time event. Pathwalking is not a choice you make once, and then coast along with. It is fluid, not static. It is a philosophy, a lifestyle choice, not a quick fix. It is going to at times be easy and at times be hard. Pathwalking is life.
Today was a bad day. A no good, rotten, pretty awful day really. But tomorrow is another day. Tomorrow will be better. I will choose for it to be better. I will not leave this day and expect to step into tomorrow carrying this same feeling, this same sense of awfulness.
I acknowledge that I have had a bad day. I now have to release this day. Soon I will seek my bed, lay my head on my pillow, and close my eyes. Before sleep takes me I need to release the negativity of my bad day. I need to let it go, not dwell on it, not drag it along with me into tomorrow.
There will be some kind of release. I will either cry, or I will meditate and focus on seeing all that negative energy that has surrounded me today pass. I might find a distraction before I call it a day, to take my mind off all negative emotions so that they are allowed to pass. I will not hold onto this bad day, I will release it.
This is, no surprise here, easier said than done. But I cannot stress to you just how important it is that I give this the energy, the focus to release this bad day. I cannot take this with me, I have to let it go, so that I can walk the path I am choosing, and start fresh tomorrow.
Today is coming to a close. Tomorrow is another day. What will I focus on, the negativity of today, or the possibility of tomorrow? The smart choice is the possibility – because it can go anywhere, and mean anything, and so today’s bad day could be followed by the best day ever tomorrow.
What do you do when it feels like it’s all for naught? You acknowledge the feeling, you process it, you let it wash over and through you…and then, most important of all, you let it go. Tomorrow can be whatever you want it to be, and the reason to choose this path or any path is to take control to make it such.
Today was a lousy day. But it does not need to be carried forward. Tomorrow is a whole new beginning, another opportunity, more paths to be walked. Today’s struggle can be tomorrow’s victory.
Do you see the worth in not letting a bad day hang on?
This is the one-hundred twenty seventh entry in my series. These weekly posts are specifically about walking along the path of life, and my desire to make a difference in this world along the way. Feel free to re-blog. Thank you for joining me.
The first year of Pathwalking is available in print and for your Kindle.
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