But it’s summertime. I’m supposed to be carefree and having fun, right?
We’ve seen the pictures……… Folk cavorting in the sunshine, happy, smiling from ear to ear, going off on adventures; exciting, newness, relaxed, carefree. It’s summertime and that’s how we’re supposed to be, what we should be doing, isn’t it?
But, what if we’re not? What if we aren’t feeling this way? What if our summertime is nothing like what the culture suggests it should be? What then?
Enter……………… The ‘ick’. That feeling, in the pit of your stomach that you’re not quite right, somehow. You’re not on track. You’re not where you’re supposed to be. There’s something ‘wrong’ with you.
And, hello there, world of comparisons. Everyone else is fine. Everyone else is having fun. Everyone else is having the time of their lives right now. Not me. That’s it! I need to shake things up. I need to enrol in some kind of new hobby; something fun and outdoorsy, maybe? Should I go on holiday? Will that make things better? Will that fill this pit I feel in my stomach? I need to do something. Anything, to get rid of this feeling that I’m missing the mark, somehow, falling short.
It doesn’t take much for us to ‘lock in’ on these feelings and react according to what we see and hear around us. The cultural expectations, families, friends, institutions are powerful forces, reeling us in with norms and values that we should be meeting (or at least wanting or trying to meet).
You are a unique human. You exist in your own way, in your own right. A season, a time of year, a situation, a place, other people, don’t change your individual experiencing of the world around you, nor what is going on for you right now.
So, you don’t feel amazing, or like you’re ‘living your best life’ in the heart of summer? That sounds to me like some authentic experiencing and owning of your own emotions and way of being. It sounds real and true and raw. It sounds centred in your own beingness.
That’s pretty freaking wonderful.
J X