Lately I have found myself in the why vortex. You know, where you question all the “wrongs” in your life. We all do it at some time or another. And I know from grieving the deaths of both of my parents that in order to move on you have to graduate from that vortex. Because in the end you either choose to be happy and celebrate what you do have or you will forever be stuck in that pit of “why.” I came across this quote yesterday and it hit me hard. I needed the reminder that I can choose joy. That joy is always an option.
See a few weeks ago I got to visit some friends from college in the city I moved to when I graduated – Philadelphia. It has been 8 years since I had last been there. It was so much fun seeing friends and eating delicious food (seriously Philly is a foodie heaven – I could spend DAYS eating my way through Reading Terminal Market. I literally ate the biggest Pastrami Sandwich ever for breakfast and it was divine). But what I didn’t anticipate was the flood of memories and emotions from my childhood. I grew up in South Jersey. We used to come to Philadelphia for this or that and honestly I think just being in such close geographical proximity to my childhood home opened in me a jar of emotions that I try to keep buried. Regret that my parents are dead. Pain that I missed my grandmothers funeral due to life circumstances. Mad that life was not turning out how I wanted. Painful memories I had buried for so long were fighting to come to the surface. I stood on the lid and tried to hammer it back in but it wasn’t working too well. And then I came home to a child sick with the stomach flu. Talk about cortisol levels spiking! I started to feel myself sinking into that pit of depression I fight so hard to stay out of.
So these past two weeks I have been consciously choosing joy. Getting back into a rhythm of life that brings me happiness. My essential oils help immensely of course. Read here how they have helped my anxiety and depression the last two years. In the end though it is mindset. I am choosing to celebrate my life with all its dents and scratches. We are all works in progress.
So choose joy today people. There is always something to celebrate.
Kathy Thomas 