Riding the Waves of Sadness & Anxiety

Just knowing that our feelings are not always going to be happy, joyous and peaceful helps us know we aren't alone. We may often have a feeling of lonliness, loss or sadness. Losing our loved ones as we age of course brings about sadness. Losing mobility, having physical pain are reasons for having small bouts of frustration and depression.

As we find a new ache or pain, experience the phenomenon of having our bodies lose ability to work like they used to work, so many doctor's appointments, anxiety may increase wondering how we are going to cope when we can't drive anymore, for example.

Anxiety is a group of thoughts projecting fearful experiences that haven't even happened. When we identify these worries we can actually qusestion ourselves with the question, is it happening now and if we can answer no, then we can shift to where our feet are, and stay in the plan for today.

Anxiety is easier to reprogram than sadness, since sadness can be an actually physical reaction to loss. Losing a friend, even a pet elicits internal feeling of sadness and crying is normal when we have these feelings. (I even cry at good things!) Talking about this loss is one way of helping us with the bottled up feelings that can overwhelm us. listening to music, taking a walk, being there for a friend, these are ways to get through those normal feelings of loss. This process of getting through tough feelings isn't easy. It takes courage, a minute at a time.