You want to read this article. Why? Because life was going just fine, then all the sudden it pulled the classic "just kidding!" and slapped you in the face. And now, you're upset and you're tired of feeling the way you're feeling. Why else would you have read this far, am I right?

The thing about life is that it can hand us something extraordinary, and then break our hearts all on the same day. One minute you're getting a promotion, the next you find out some trash bag just stole your boyfriend. It's hard and it sucks.

But the beautiful thing about having the rug pulled completely out from under you is this: grief is a liar. It tells you that it deserves to stick around, but that just isn't true. You don't have to let life's crappy jokes turn your whole world gray. You don't have to let it jade you.

You can choose to get up and leave that mess right where it is.

Bad things happen every day, but how much attention do those things really deserve? A moment, a year, a lifetime? In all honesty, I think many of us really believe pain is supposed to stay with us forever.

Before I turned 20, I experienced trauma that gave me an excruciating and debilitating case of PTSD. I was horrified that something was wrong with me. I was mad at the cause, I was hurt over the damage that had taken place. I held onto fear and embarrassment and shame. And it completely changed me.

For years, I spent so much energy ruining my life, and I didn't even know it.

I. Didn't. Even. Know. It.

I ran from things out of fear, thinking I was protecting myself when really I was robbing myself of happiness. That's the hardest part. You can't even see what you are ruining for yourself when you allow life's grievances to follow you around.

In all honesty, the PTSD wasn't all that debilitating. It was the way I handled it because I was fueled by fear. I wasted my time over-thinking my situation, coming up with what-if scenarios, overworking myself to prove to everyone else that I was absolutely solid, when in fact, I was a wreck. All I needed was to stop giving what was wrong so much spotlight. I needed to allow myself to be upset, and then allow myself to feel better. I needed to focus on what really made me feel good, and trust that if it made me feel good, I should let myself enjoy it.

I had to learn that the things that hurt me are not permanent unless I make them permanent. That chances are worth taking if they are providing me with happiness. I had to learn fear is not something that should dictate a single decision I make, because it will keep me miserable for as long as I let it. Whether they be big or small, undesirable situations don't need to be placed in a bag that I carry around to affect everything else I become a part of.

In my opinion, we all give baggage a little too much credit.

I say baggage is bullshit.

Put that shit down and move forward. Don't keep carrying it into new situations. Let the past be the past and let what hurt you stay in the same time period it hurt you in. You've given grief enough credit, it doesn't deserve a place in your life for a second longer. Instead, focus on resiliency. If it makes you feel good, do it.

Let what you've gone through make you smarter, let it teach you to read between the lines, recognize red flags and make better choices, but don't let it jade you. Don't let it influence the millions of small investments you are able to make in yourself and your happiness.

When life tries to hurt you choose to be alive. Pain is there, it will always be there. Go ahead and take a moment to wallow in it, let it crawl under your skin if you have to.

But don't let that pain get comfortable in your body. It's supposed to be passing through, not living inside you. Learn to set it down and leave it behind. Suffering is a choice. Fear is a choice. Choose love, choose to see the good. Chase the happy energy. Chase the things that make you excited, comforted, peaceful.

So when life hits you with an unexpected bitchslap, don't let it fling you to the floor. Don't let it leave you there, watching the world continue to spin as you wallow in frustration of what just happened. Get up. React to that bitchslap with a right hook.