the sweet ain't as sweet...

lesson of the day: "the sweet ain't as sweet without the bitter, baby."

recently, i had a conversation with a co-worker as we were driving in between meetings. one of her favorite topics of conversation is her two little girls and i love to hear her talk about them- her face lights up and the energy and love with which she speaks of them is lovely to be around.

this conversation revolved around the girls' bedtime a few nights before. as she finished reading a story to her three-year-old and was ready to tuck her into bed, her little girl said, "mama, i don't want you to go yet, it makes me sad." and she told her little girl, "it's okay to be sad."

it's okay to be sad.

she told me that's an important life lesson she wants to pass on to her daughters. so many of us try and skip over the sadness by over-indulging ourselves to forget about the pain-- too much eating, too much drinking, too much of something so we can forget about the sadness. but if we let ourselves feel the sadness-- if we treat it less as a disease and more as a necessary emotion from time to time, maybe it won't be so awful.

so.

last night, i was sad. and i cried. and i let myself feel it. today- i am sad. and i will let myself feel it.

and i am absolutely confident that better days are ahead, that this will pass and it will all be okay.
lesson of the day.