There are lots of blogs and articles about the importance of feeling and being positive and upbeat to boost your mental health and well-being. But is this really a good thing?
It can be great, but not if it means being in denial of any negative feelings that you are experiencing.
It is incredibly important to release and express your emotions so they don’t get stuck in your system and become bigger issues than they need to be. You don’t need to create emotional baggage to carry around with you. You can let it go.
I really recommend having what I call a ‘therapeutic moan’. My favourite way to do this is through journaling, writing down in a beautiful journal or notebook all your perceived concerns and worries.
There will be some days and times when you are really struggling with life, work or certain situations. By using your journal, as a supportive and non-judgemental listening ear, it can be really helpful to get these thoughts and feelings off your chest. Have a good old moan about how negative you are feeling, the challenges you are experiencing, work colleagues who are annoying you etc. Let it all out. You might find swearing beneficial as it has more punch to it.
But then stop. Don’t spend the next few days moaning about the same things with every person you encounter. This just focuses your energy on negative things. Have a good therapeutic moan to release these challenging thoughts and feelings, and then truly let them go. Don’t hold on to them anymore.
By replacing negative thoughts with positive affirmations, every time you think of this challenging thought or situation, you can start to create positive solutions to your problems or change your perception of these situations.
Let go and be open to new ideas and experiences.