I'm grumpy and that's OK: dealing with emotional mud.

So, today I'm grumpy. And that's okay.

Context: I'm really tired and I have a dental infection so I'm also in pain. Sucky McSucky indeed. But whilst I know it's not great to be in a flump, it is okay to feel crap sometimes. I just need to surrender to the grumpiness and flumpiness and work through it, process those feelings and move on to a better place, having worked with myself to a better understanding.

If you're feeling bad, I've found that it's a lot easier to work through that emotional mud by getting stuck in and processing it, not ignoring it. If you ignore things, they tend to build up and then ERUPT when you least expect it, and it can take a heck of a longer time to work through it as well. I like to think of it as choosing to dip your toes in the mud. Stick a bare foot in, squiggle your toes about and feel how it feels. After all, squishy, cool mud between your toes is a lot easier to deal with than a mudslide.

I also have several techniques, processes and just general ways of dealing with emotional mud, that makes it a lot thinner and lot easier to work through. I'm not saying it's easy and I'm super great at dealing with my emotions, but I am saying, if you implement little ways to help yourself help your inner you (okay, we're getting deep now!) then it feels a lot easier to deal.

So, I will share with you one of my ways of dealing with the mud:

Write or say out loud a "gratitude in the now" list.

One of my 3 key intentions for 2015 is "be present in the moment" - a lot of the time it is really hard to not be in the present. You're pining, experiencing or relieving the past or you're yearning, being scared of who freaking out about the future. Just sitting here, in the present, with yourself is extremely stretching for me, but since I have actively tried this, it is really becoming a way of life for me. So, a way of bringing myself back into the present and dealing with how I am presently feeling, is by either writing down, drawing or saying out loud a "gratitude in the now" list. What am I grateful right now, in this present moment at which I am existing?

Avocados.
Music. Loud, positive, beautiful music.
Sparkling juice.
Colour. Pink, orange and yellow.
Modern medicine
Art.
My love.
Patterns.
That colour that is kind of half yellow half green.
Flowers.
Horses.
Waterfalls.

Even if the only thing in this moment you can feel grateful for is whimsical or stupid or just "I am breathing", I find it really helps to ground me and to help me feel more positive things. I flippin' love avocados and I'm grateful I have one! I know I am loved, he's sitting right behind me. And I'm so grateful for that feeling of love.

The more I think of my in the present gratefulness, the softer and warmer that mud becomes, like melting chocolate.

I feel less grumpy already :-)