Asleep and Numb by Happy Thoughts

At one time in my life, everyone thought I had it all together.  I learned from my Mom, who always put the happy smile on in life.  Even if she was sick as could be, she would not let anyone know it.  I did the same.

I constantly immersed myself with happy thoughts and portrayed a "false reality" to the world.  My friends just thought I had it all together and were shocked when I ended up in the hospital with Conversion Disorder.  I still remember them pointing this out to me.

There is nothing wrong with happy thoughts or inspirational messages.  We all need them and they can lift us up sometimes.  Affirmations can help us focus.  However, they should not take over for the reality we project to the world.  Unfortunately that happens all the time in our lives, and especially on social media.

In this example from the blog post on June 13, 2017, Mirabel does what I used to do.  So she only shows the happy smile and shares the happy thought online, avoiding anything and everything that is hard for her to deal with in her life.  Unfortunately Mirabel doesn't realize just how asleep she is.

No, not everyone wants to see our doom and gloom.  Yet if we show the real side of our lives, others can more readily connect with us.  They can learn from us and often help provide support for us.  Together, we can do much more when we are real, not when we are fake.

I constantly see people putting down and belittling others for not being 100% positive all the time, and I weep for them.  That is not being human.  That is being unreal and disconnected and asleep.  It is numbing yourself to what your life is.  There is no way to move forward if you are numb.

Show the happy smile, but also show how you're climbing up out of the depths of despair.  Show the happy smile, but be real and authentic with people.  No one enjoys being around someone that lies to them or paints an inaccurate picture.

Yes, it takes courage to not just be numb and asleep when it comes to how we feel and what is going on in life.  It takes vulnerability, like what Brene Brown talks about.  Through moments of being real, we often lift ourselves and others up to a stronger and more powerful vantage point.

The world needs real people.  The world does not need fake pasted on smiles.  There is far too much of that on our planet today that is taking us over the cliff.  May we awaken from our sleep and realize this before we've gone past the point of no return.

Make sure you check out the first part in this 11 part series

 Part 1 is "Are You Asleep"

 

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Blog Post And Images (c) 2017 by Don Shetterly

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