Our social media platforms enter dangerous terrain when we create the illusion that our life is full of the "highlight" moments we want everyone to know about, while conveniently leaving out our low points and difficulties. Additionally, health and wellness social media influencers feature #GoodVibesOnly on their posts and encourage their followers to strive for positivity in all situations because "thoughts become things".

It is an illusion of authentic positivity that invalidates the difficult and painful parts in our life - and it truly does us no favors.

When we lack the ability to acknowledge and accept the hard parts of life, we can't move past or learn from them. It is natural in life to experience suffering, heartbreak, illness, and loss, and it's essential that we hold space for our discomfort as we move through these feelings.

It's important to look within, and ask ourselves how we truly feel about our "negative" feelings and emotions. Are we able to care for ourselves during difficult periods, or are we judging ourselves for having these "negative" feelings? Can we meet ourselves with compassion and an understanding that the hard times will not last forever but also cannot be immediately escaped?

How can we build the resilience to continue carrying on with our lives as we go through the process of moving past pain, rather than turning a blind eye?

Here's the thing: we all know life isn't sunshine and rainbows 100% of the time. Why then, is there this trendy attempt to cultivate total positivity and optimism? Because it's easier not to feel into the hard parts. However, we are programmed to feel everything on the full spectrum of emotions: fear, anger, jealousy, sadness, despair, doubt, joy, excitement, and everything in between. It's time to fully embrace that we don't need to promote good vibes all the time. To be fair, though, "good vibes only sometimes, when things are truly good," is a lot less catchy.