Sides of the Soul + Highlight Reels
Hey. We’ve all heard it: “Social media is a highlight reel.” I’m great at picking the best moments of my life to share with you. BUT. There are two sides of me: Side 1: Has an incredible family, friend-family and support system. Gets to love on two super cute puppies every day. Feels humbly blessed and honored to experience pregnancy and motherhood. Gets wonderfully wrapped up in the home she and her husband share, decorating, improving, dreaming. Travels. Loves her job. Fully, completely, trusts God with the plan He has for her life. Is human. Side 2: Fights depression and anxiety. Lost her dad—one of her most trusted advisors and the person who knew her heart better than just about anyone—this year. Gets pulled down the dark vortex of trying to figure out relationships that have unexpectedly broken her in the hardest times of her life. Says things she wishes she could take back, or even better, didn’t think about at all in the first place. Envies what others have and experience even though she knows there’s a lot of really good things right in front of her. Is also human. I’m not telling you this for pity or attention; in fact, I don’t really like either of those things. I’m telling you because life is a choice we get to make every day. We get to choose between our sides, but sometimes it’s really, really hard to choose Side 1 when all you feel like is Side 2. Sometimes it’s having people who offer you a hand back up when they don’t even know they’re doing it. Sometimes it’s quiet reflection. And sometimes, it’s crawling under your blankets and simply realizing that you might be stuck today but tomorrow WILL be better, without allowing yourself to get caught in the moments you feel like you’re presently wasting. And yes, sometimes, there’s a whole lot more than two sides to feel and it gets frustratingly confusing. You have to seek out the good. There are times when it has to be a conscious effort to think, “I’m going to focus my mental energy here, not here.” Maybe it means talking to someone before you can get there. Maybe it means medication to help get you chemically rebalanced. Maybe you’re able to do it on your own. All of these things are okay as long as you find a way to dwell in your own good, and not others’. Because you’re the only one who determines what your “good” is and then how you react to situations based on that determination. You have the power to let the “worst” go and focus on the “better.” It’s not always one good thing for every bad thing, because life doesn’t work that way. Instead, it’s giving more weight and power to the good things—and you have all you need inside of you to unleash that positive energy. The more you practice finding it, feeling it, and emanating it, the easier it will become to focus on it and ultimately live a life centered in happiness instead of the constant weight of pain and struggle. Celebrate what brings you joy. Regularly acknowledge and give thanks for the good things in your life. Take time for self care but also share with and give to others. Know it is good to love all your sides—because they’re the beautiful composition that makes you, you—as long as you fully understand and embrace the ones that make you happiest. What does YOUR highlight reel look like when, instead of making its purpose a depiction of your life to others, you use it as positive feedback to drive your own perspective each day?
#highlightreel #SoulReason #soulsides #happiness #real #feelings #emotions #purpose #choices