JOYFUL LIVING
Life is full of joy, but at the same time, has its share of inevitable
challenges. Relationship breakdowns, work stress, financial hardship,
accidents, illness, injuries, trauma, and bereavement can have
devastating impacts on our mental health.
ACKNOWLEDGE DISTRESS
Acknowledging our own
distress is one of the hardest things to do. For many of us, we spend
years building defenses and protecting ourselves from experiencing
difficult feelings for fear of what would happen if we allowed
ourselves to know distress. After all, we need to be able to function
in our daily lives and existing in ‘auto-pilot’ mode serves the
purpose of navigating each day without having to acknowledge
uncomfortable thoughts and feelings.
ENGAGE THE PRESENT
Unfortunately however, this does
not work in the long term and glimpses of our distress continue to
resurface time and time again and prevents us from being able to
engage fully in the present and connect with our values to find meaning.