Today started a difficult one. Today I woke with an empty pit of vulnerability in my stomach and knew I needed to be careful about my sensory input.
Feelings like this hit us when we least expect them. We know they affect us deeply when, for example, we see a person fly tipping, read the news and see only the darkness in the world, or hear of a friend’s car being keyed for seemingly no reason. These are the days when we could easily lose our faith in humanity.
To counteract this, today, I will spend the evening with my CEO friend of an environmental organisation and hear about all the incredible things people are doing throughout the world. Today I will go on lots of walks with my, and my neighbour’s dog and catch up on David Byrne’s excellent Reasons to be Cheerful. Today I will dream of walking with 1800 rescue dogs in Costa Rica and sit in the sun and immerse myself in my novel.
We all have days like these. And it is on these days that we need to protect what I call our diamonds. We need to focus on what makes us whole, and shield ourselves from the gloom that would overwhelm us so readily. We need to go and help those less fortunate to remind ourselves what we do, and who we are can make a difference.
Most of all, on these days, we’d be wise to remember what Jonathan Safran Foer so succinctly noted – “You cannot protect yourself from sadness without [also] protecting yourself from happiness.” – and remind ourselves we will be stronger, and things will be better tomorrow.