Shed Life’s Emotional Weight
Happy New Year! (2024)
It’s another year and like many, I’m thinking about the weight I put on over the holidays. Not the pounds you’d see in my face or gut, but what I added to my conscious, subconscious, body, and soul.
We all have moments we’d like to get back. ‘If I made this decision earlier, I wouldn’t have been in a worse position later.’ It happens to us all the time. Sometimes more frequently than others, and other times they’re more impactful. We tend to treat these moments like politicians.
What are the damage control options?
How can I make myself publicly look better?
Public perception is where we focus, even if it takes an even larger toll on us personally.
I had a great birthday. I went for a run, soaked in the hot springs, my daughter had a concert, good food, friends, family, drinks, laughs, and gratitude.
Perception is not always reality. We’re happy because we look better to others, but we are gorging ourselves with our emotional turmoil. We are emotionally obese because of internal strife. What someone else thinks is more important than what we think of the person in the mirror. We are challenged or even sometimes unwilling to put in the work that directly makes our lives better.
We tend to perpetually hope, lie to ourselves, and wait until we’re too far gone. But we don’t have to.
All of the above about my birthday is true. That would have left me emotionally healthy and svelte. By morning, the reality had changed and I was obese.
Feigned control turned into a lack of control. Add panic, some conscious and some due to an unresolved past trauma that led to irrational choices, and ultimately ill-conceived regret and embarrassment. I did not drive. I did not get into a fight (fun fact - I’ve never actually been in one). No one got physically hurt. Those are all very bright silver linings. The positive outcomes could easily end there. However…
I will not allow them to.
I will not let these couple of hours hold me emotionally hostage.
I will not mentally gorge my mind and body.
I will not be emotionally obese.
Exercising my emotional acuity isn’t always easy, but like working out physically, I always feel better when I do.
We all have had events that wreak havoc with our conscious and subconscious. Our perceived and actual reality. Our mind and body. Our wellness.
Let me help you start your year off right. Do not hold onto unnecessary emotional weight from your past. When looking in the mirror, you may not see it, but you can certainly feel emotionally obese. Don’t wait to shed those pounds and feel lighter.
Cheers and peace be the journey.
Pete Dopkin