Seeing Better in the Dark

In a recent episode of the Healthier Together podcast, author, Susan David, Ph.D., said:

“Mental Health and wellness is not about racing to the light (at the end of the tunnel), it’s actually about learning to see better in the dark.” This quote has stuck to me like glue since I heard it and though I am well versed in Susan’s work (anyone who has taken any of my classes knows we talk a lot about her awesome book, Emotional Agility)...this quote struck me in a new way.

I’ve read her book. I'm working on not bottling or brooding, recognizing my hooks, figuring out my values and walking my why. Yet with all of those things…I think my goal has often been to get to “ok”. To get to the light at the end of the tunnel. Sometimes I just want to feel “ok.” Okay to me means not stressed, not anxious, not depressed, at peace with life and the world.

I know that Susan would say to me… “those are dead people’s goals” and slowly, though I don’t want to, I am coming to believe her and accept it.

Her work is helping me to accept the good days and the hard days with equal love and compassion to myself and others.

Learning to see better in the dark is an amazing goal. Life is hard, life is good…sometimes life is hard and good at the same time. Sometimes it’s one or the other. All of it is part of being human.

What I know to be true is that journaling helps me. It helps me to feel a little less blind in the dark. It helps me navigate the sharp corners and gives me a soft landing when life throws its punches. All metaphors aside, learning to see better in the dark is a great goal and journaling helps me get there..

Do you want some tools to help you navigate both the challenges and the joys of life? In my classes, I give participants tools that help us both recognize and celebrate the days that we feel joyful and alive and also tools to help us survive and perhaps even thrive though the days that are dark and hard.

If journaling sounds interesting to you...I have classes for adults as well as teens and pre-teens. Please contact me and we'll get you in a class ASAP.