THINK LIFE SUCKS? 10 THINGS THAT MAY NOT (ISSUE 153) NOVEMBER 4, 2014

By Diane Gold

Think life sucks? I’m the first one to acknowledge however anyone feels.

And, if you think life sucks, I dedicate this article to you and ask you to reach out. I also send it out to anyone who has a minute for a person who believes that life sucks. We all matter, and we are all our sisters’ and brothers’ keepers.

NO FEELING IS WEIRD

No feeling is weird, inconsequential, strange, out of reach of understanding, unworthy, stupid, immature; and someone will listen if we reach out. We may have to reach more than once, but someone will listen. When we think life sucks, we usually don’t have the energy to reach out once, much less twice. So, each of us has to pool together in this world of sensitivity, and we have to read each other, making sure we are all OK.

Feelings are feelings, and we feel the way that we feel. Just because I don’t think life sucks doesn’t mean that you don’t. And vice versa. Just because someone in my life told me that I was being a cry baby a weakling, a spoiled brat by saying that life sucked for me doesn’t mean life doesn’t suck. It means the individual who said those words to me was, in her own way, being supportive or being completely insensitive. It doesn’t mean the feeling is weird.

10 THINGS THAT ARE GIFTS

There are many things in this world that may not suck. I am listing 10 since most people have one of these things. Others, and many, may have all of them. These are reminders of how life does not suck. They are also our ACTION STEPS for today.

1) BREATHE IN

On every day that we awaken, we breathe in and breathe out. When we pay attention to the act of breathing, it is pretty fascinating. Imagine watching as we breath from inside our body. What a perspective.

This lovely process is a gift to be honored. We all need it to take a look at the other 9 things that may make life not suck.

2) HEAR MUSIC

If we have our faculty of hearing, we can hear music. What’s great about this is that music can bring us to many special places. When I wanted to be pensive and sad, I listened to Sad Eyed Lady Of The Lowlands by Bob Dylan. When I want to dance, I turn on Progressive House Music and start dancing around the room, the street, the store. Yes, I’m the one with the headphones, pushing the shopping cart in rhythm to the music.

Music can miraculously adjust our emotions. It can be a friend as well as a way to expand our lives. It is something to be considered that makes life not suck. And, there are other, non-traditional ways to feel music, should our ears not work.

By the way, to have hearing is a gift. Many without it consider their method of listening also a gift.

3) CREATE

No matter who we are, no matter what abilities we have, we can create something. It can be as simple as a sentence uttered at the right time or cartoon characters painted on fingers that may save someone’s life. It may also be some art or science form that impacts the world as we know it. Having such ability may be considered a way the life does not suck.

4) SEE CLEARLY

For those of us who are fortunate enough to have sight, we get to view the world in all its color. It might not seem like much if we think that life sucks. But, we can close our eyes for a moment and honor the colors we see. When we open our eyes a minute later, we may be ready to rejoice. And the closing of our eyes while awake may help to see clearly in a place that does not suck.

5) TASTE FOOD

I think each of us has tasted something that we like. Yummy. This is not nothing. It’s a joy that is part of the life we think sucks. And we always have the opportunity to encounter another taste that makes our bodies shimmer and salivate. Another gift.

6) SMELL AROMA

I just started appreciating smell more fully because I have become attracted to the smells of my super foods. Not everyone enjoys the same smell, yet, almost all of us have the ability to smell.

When we think life sucks, why not smell something. It, alone, may not make life not suck, but it is one step of many that may do it, and we can honor our ability to smell as a wonderful one.

7) TOUCH SOMEONE

The truth is when we think life sucks, we might not have anyone to touch. So, we have to do the next best thing. Marvel at the many parts of our that are sensitive to touch. That’s a lot of nerve endings.

Even if we go to the corner store and see the kind proprietor we have seen there for 10 years, we can reach out. We can shake hands with our neighbor or our familiar police officer or librarian.

Animals are someone’s someone. The sensation of petting a dog or touching the neighbor’s ferret gets us out of ourselves and into a world that may not suck. When we touch another, our perspective changes. We are not so alone. We may see that people care about us; we only have to let them.

8) FEEL SECURE

Have we ever felt secure? Some of us, yes. I have. It’s when we feel strong enough to fend for ourselves, to defend for ourselves, to feel supported. Those of us who have experienced this feeling know that it’s a good one.

When we think life sucks, let’s recall a time, even if it were 40 years back. Or think about the time that a loved one held us. If we can remember that, we are fortunate and may add that good fortune to why life doesn’t suck. If not, we can look forward to feeling it. We can make it happen by an action: reach out.

Further, we can take comfort in the fact that we are not alone. There are others around us, ready to meet us.

9) REMEMBER

We all have memories. Most of us can think of some that are precious to us. Life would suck more if we could not remember. So, let’s rejoice for now because we can remember something pleasurable. And take a moment out to remember something nice.

10) BE LIKE WATER

Even though we may think life sucks, we have the ability to bounce back from the feeling and start flowing. That’s another thing that’s so great about living. We can step out of our feeling sucky at any time and start to be like water. We can feel free as birds’ flying, snakes’ slithering, brooks’ babbling, people’s mingling. Even if we don’t do it because life sucks now, we have the ability.

What a gift that we can assimilate like a droplet of water into a lake or a single student into a lecture hall filled with others or an advocate for a cause. All because we can be like water.

CONCLUSION

We have just gone through 10 things that are outside the realm where we think that life sucks. We may claim some of them in our lives. Maybe even most. Out of breathing in, hearing music, creating, seeing clearly, tasting food, smelling aroma, touching someone, feeling secure, remembering, being like water; we can see some that have gift-like qualities.

Just for a moment, can we consider these 10 in light of the fact that we think life sucks. And, when we think of each, imagine, for 1 minute once or 1 minute once a day, that life doesn’t suck. In doing so, it may suck just a little bit less.

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DIANE GOLD, PUBLISHER AND AUTHOR

Diane Gold, Founder of Warriors of Weight, Turning Habits Into Health, is a mentor in tai chi, kung fu and meditation, a music, fitness and stress expert, dedicated mom, studying plant-based nutrition, peaceful conflict resolution and habit replacement.

She has looked one step ahead so that life does not suck. She says,

“There are so many wonders in life. Should we choose to, we can look at one, only one, that we already have. This way, we can look at it without judging that we are doomed for not having it.

“When we focus on it for just 1 minute, we can realize its greatness. That may help us to turn life from sucking to not sucking in that moment, if only for that moment.

“Finally, let us all take good care of ourselves because we are so worth it!”