In the past few weeks, I have started listening to a couple of podcasts that have really resonated with me not just as a mental health professional but as a human being trying to navigate the sometimes challenging feelings that I am confronted with because of COVID-19. I have found these podcasts helpful on many levels as I try to get in touch with what I am feeling about what I am feeling.

So many of us are feeling so many things, often all at once. I, like many people, feel sadness tinged with hope that someday things will return to some kind of normal. I, like many people, am feeling both taxed and wanting to give back during these challenging times. I , like many people, am feeling frustrated but grateful.

With everything going on right now, many of us may be feeling a combination of bad and good feelings and that is okay. We do not have to stuff the bad feelings away in an effort to try to remain positive about what is happening in the world right now. It is okay to sit with those bad or negative emotions and feelings, and be curious and compassionate about them. Allow yourself to feel whatever it is you may be feeling, good and bad.

Both Brene Brown and Susan David have been talking about feelings in their podcasts and I highly recommend both. Brene Brown’s recently talked about giving yourself permission to feel in her Unlocking Us podcast while Susan David speaks about allowing yourself to feel negative emotions. Here is the link to Susan David’s talk:

 

 

 

David’s talk is only about 15 minutes if you have the time to check in with yourself and what you really are feeling. With everything going on and society’s relentless need to tell us that we have to remain positive, it can be difficult to allow yourself permission to feel what you really may be feeling, including sad, hopeless, frustrated or angry. All of those negative feelings are valid and it is okay to have those feelings.

While there is something to be said for trying to remain positive when the world seemingly has turned upside down, there also is something in allowing yourself to feel whatever it is you are feeling. You are not a bad person for having negative emotions; that simply makes you human. If you are having difficulty managing those negative feelings, now may be a good time to reach out to someone to talk about your feelings, be that a friend, family member or mental health professional.

You are not alone in feeling both good and bad emotions in this pandemic. So many of us are feeling conflicting emotions about what is going on right now. Whatever you are feeling is valid and you are entitled to your emotions. Allow yourself to sit with both the good and bad feelings. Offer yourself compassion for feeling sad, angry or frustrated. Offer yourself compassion for being human.