The Secret Key to Being Human

I sometimes feel like we have been given a secret key to the whole business of being a human…and especially how to be a happy, thriving human. Without this secret key life can be a struggle. And when we don’t know where to find the key we can often slide into one of the two typical approaches to coping with this struggle…We can become driven, or brittle, hard on ourselves, judging ourselves for not being good enough. We can become critical of life - for being so hard. Then we hunker down and try push through. 

Or…

We give up, fade away, hide, collapse or generally feel life is hopeless.

I have done both of these and so have many of my clients. Some people lean more towards one or the other. What about you? I used to be a ‘fade away’ or ‘collapse’ kind of person. Then to try and pull myself out of that heavy place, I shifted into being more driven and pushing myself. Both approaches to coping with the challenges of life made me ill.