Sadness is an uncomfortable guest.

When you see sadness coming, reach out to her, hands cradling her chin and kiss her hair. She needs to be invited in, welcomed and given space at your table and your bookshelf. To ignore sadness is like ignoring a broken bone that needs attention, to be realigned and bandaged, and bone healing takes time and it hurts.

welcome sadness.

I remember this one day where I woke up sad. Ridiculously and mopey sad. Blue bled into everything. Did someone paint everything that dreary blue shade? Nope, it was my eyes.

I listened to upbeat music. I peptalked my cubicle walls. I even smiled.

A friend told me to ignore the sadness and to force myself to be happy. Good vibes only. And I tried. I really tried.

But as the day came to a close, I accepted it: I was sad.

And I was done caffeine-coaxing my mood and chocolate-distracting myself. If I felt sad, then I was going to welcome sadness space in my beloved, rented basement bedroom.

I yanked out my laptop, flipped it open and then on. I can’t remember which sad song I started with, but if I have to venture a guess, I bet it was “Breathe Me” by Sia.

Sadness hugged me.

Instead of shrugging its arms off with positive vibes and joy-choosing, I curled up with sadness. Tears prickled at my eyelids and pooled in the corners of my eyes. Each tear released the pent-up sadness.

And then, sadness dried my tears and left.

Why do we run away from sadness, grief, or loss? Why do we rush to ignore our uncomfortable and unhappy moments? Will you drown in the puddle of your tears?

Have you been trying to escape sadness? Maybe it’s time to stop running and catch her in your arms and accept her as she is.

 

Open your heart’s door. Welcome. She’s a guest and won’t stay forever.