Allowing yourself to feel

Following one of our earlier posts on healing not being linear, I think it’s important to highlight the importance of allowing yourself to feel ‘negative’ emotions. Too often we hear people say things like “you/I need to be strong” or “there’s no point being sad, others have it worse.” Whilst sometimes it can be useful to put a positive spin on a bad situation, these phrases imply that showing emotions is a weakness or that people aren’t entitled to difficult feelings. 

To avoid toxic positivity, try to avoid saying cliches like “everything happens for a reason” or “look on the bright side.” Instead, validate your own, or others, feelings by acknowledging the difficulties you are facing and the way this is making you feel. Life can be difficult sometimes and processing painful emotions is hard but it is important for our psychological health. Remember, your feelings are always valid and showing them or asking for help is not a weakness.