Sometimes, we reach a point in our lives where we feel like we just don't have the energy or the momentum to move forward anymore. We feel lost, desperate, helpless, and in need of reassurance…

Negative feelings are not there to stay. They are just migrating from one place to another and they happened to migrate to your mind that day. It is easy to think of negative feelings as some sort of a parasite that is hard to remove, such as ticks or fleas. Ticks and fleas are easy to catch (especially in the summer, whew!), but hard to remove once caught. Apparently, negative feelings work the same exact way. Although they are easy to get and even hold onto, they are harder to throw away in the bin next to our feet.

And well, they don't have to stay... They have "migrated"; they weren't meant to find a permanent place in our minds. They are ultimately using our minds as a makeshift tool. Fleas and ticks and other parasites (as gross as they sound!) are meant to move from one host to another, rather than staying consistently in a single host. Negative feelings are never meant to stay in our minds eternally. One day, they will be worn out and we will find a piece of them floating around and realize that we should have thrown them out sooner (okay, maybe way sooner!).

I recently got a puppy during the pandemic and because it is summer now, I constantly worry about my puppy getting a parasite (negative feelings in our case!). Negative feelings and parasites have another thing in common. They aren't something we can completely avoid. Yes, we can take certain precautions and limitations to make sure we don't fall in peril of getting them, but they aren't something we can completely flee from (no pun intended). Even if we do everything we can to make sure our dog or cat doesn't get ticks or fleas, there is still going to be a chance that they can get the parasites. But it doesn't mean it's the end of the world, if they do.

Parasites and negative feelings both require some sort of troubleshooting for them to be ultimately eliminated. They won't necessarily go away by themselves. It requires people to realize that they are there and then to find a way to eliminate them. Yes, fleas and ticks don't stay on one dog forever, but that doesn't mean that they won't stay on the dog for a long time until you do something about them. The same goes for having negative feelings. Yes, they won't be there "forever," but they can exist for a long time if not replaced with some more positivity…

Become a nerd about the negative feelings you are experiencing-Be your own therapist! Take notes and try to understand what it is that is causing you to feel the negative feelings the way you do. And make sure to not ignore any small details about it. Everything can be useful to understanding the bigger picture in detail.

Think of your negative feelings as a large jigsaw puzzle!- As exciting and as tempting it may be to want to finish an enormous jigsaw puzzle all in one day, it is much easier said than done. The same goes for eliminating negative feelings. Remember that each step you take will get you closer to the destination (getting rid of these feelings), but you won't be able to get rid of all of it in one day. Take your time and really focus on your journey, as well as your destination.

Draw what your negative feelings would look like on a piece of paper or in a journal -Although this one might not be as friendly to those who feel they are not artistically inclined, this one WILL help produce clarity in being able to really "see" what your negative feelings would look like/visualize them. There are many of us who are more visual learners and so, it may help to make a small doodle or sketch out how our negative feelings would look if it were to be a live creature. Sometimes, a human or an animal (or even an extraterrestrial being) can be a lot easier to deal with than a bunch of thoughts floating around in our head!