Life gets to be good
Photography by Danielle Ann Rose @bydanielleannrose
The past few years have had me grieving a lot and constantly moving towards my future in a state of trust that everything was happening as it was supposed to and would inevitably work out for my highest good, but recently I’ve been feeling like I’ve had enough of trusting and want to take control and choose for myself. As if that’s not me just listening and trusting my own inner guidance and hearing that it’s time to step into my own power and make shit happen. It’s no longer time to patiently wait. It’s time to get excited about life again
I admit, managing my mental health can be difficult at times but I also know that our planet is breathtakingly beautiful, and sharing love and connection with others has an unmatched feeling of belonging, so for me, it feels worth it to work on self-development and experience the emotional rollercoaster that comes with it
There are two sides to everything, sometimes more, and not everything needs to be so black and white or set in stone. We can experience challenging times and still be living a good life and sometimes it takes one happening for us to appreciate the other for what it truly is
As I navigate feelings of anxiousness and depressive moods, I simultaneously notice how beautiful my life is. I have created the most incredible connections with all the people around me, I live in a beautiful home that’s full of love and support, I am constantly advocating for what is deeply important to me, and have grown up into an adult who’s living in complete alignment with their values and morals. How does it get better than that?!
Life gets to be gooood
Even when it feels shitty and unexciting
There’s magic all around, you just have to find it
You can find it in your friend’s laughter, you can find it in a cup of tea, you can find it in the ocean, you can find it in your daydreams, or you can find it in your own tears. Wherever it is you look with hopeful eyes and an open heart, you will find magic and a good life
Here are two ways I remind myself that life is good:
Capture the moment. I try my best to take a lot of photos and videos of my friends and family, beautiful views, or sweet moments. Not only because I love to look back on nice memories but also because photos and videos are tangible proof that my life is actually really abundant, joyful, and full of love, even if my mind sometimes tries to tell me otherwise
I want to remember how naturally beautiful humans are when they just got out of the ocean and how pretty clouds are even when they’re full of rain. I want to remind myself that I laughed a lot on a random Wednesday and that I ate pizza on the beach on a Sunday. I like knowing that I actually ended up enjoying an event I almost didn’t go to or that I filmed a special moment for someone else. It’s not that hard to hold my phone up for 3 seconds of a moment and still feel present, but it can be incredibly difficult to sit, crying, trying to search my mind for a memory of a time when I didn’t feel so helpless when I didn’t feel so done. Having proof that I can look at and know for certain that it’s just a bad day and not a bad life, brings me so much peace
Practice presence and gratitude. I know these are things we hear so often, but they truly do help to give us a healthy perspective of our current reality. When we’re triggered and feeling emotional it can be difficult to see our actual, real-life situation, rather than the worst-case scenarios we’ve made up in our overactive minds. When we can learn to be present and grateful for all we have and all we’ve learned, it becomes easier to see clearly that we might be experiencing a bad day or a difficult situation, but that doesn’t mean we’re living a bad life or that we don’t have goodness left to live for
A few moments recently surprised me and really let the idea that “life gets to be good” land for me. Moments where I had allowed my mindset and emotional state to lead me to believe that I was going to have a bad time but throughout the day I was shown that I have people who genuinely care for me and know me better than I thought they did, and as I looked around and saw people enjoying themselves I realized that there is so much beauty in life, and there was proof all around me that I was actually having a really beautiful day and the only thing stopping me from experiencing that fully was my own mind. A shift in perspective and thought pattern gave me an entirely different reality, in a split second. I had every right to feel the way I felt and I did my best not to shame myself for feeling off on a special occasion, while simultaneously enjoying myself and feeling grateful for everything and everyone around me because emotions are beautiful, normal, and acceptable
Life gets to be good, and not in spite of deep emotions, but because of them. Even though they can be confusing and exhausting, they are all a part of it and something we get to embrace with open arms and understanding rather than stigma or fear of shame
We are all deserving of a full life made up of adventure, excitement, and purpose. So, try not to let just part of the experience hold you back from feeling true alignment and fulfillment. Look for magic in every moment of your day, because sometimes the little things are the big things, and you won’t want to miss any of them
