Do you ever find yourself feeling trapped or overwhelmed by the reality you created?

Or maybe overwhelmed with responsibilities that at one point was your dream? I do—all the time.

I love my life and family fiercely. I also sometimes feel overwhelmed with the never-ending task list, the house that is never fully clean no matter how much I try, the laundry that piles up, the toilets that need scrubbing, the cabinets that need to be stocked, the appointments that need to be made, the something that always needs to be purchased, and on and on and on.

Add that to the never-ending task list of our jobs, relationships, and the ever-increasing demands society has put on most beings to perform, to be beautiful or attractive, to be energetic, to “not be weak,” to be adventurous, to eat healthy, and oh yeah, by the way, do it all with a smile and feeling grateful with a general lack of sleep.

How, may I ask you, is all that even humanly possible?

Sometimes all in one day? So many of us are walking around with all this swimming around in our heads and hearts. The weight of each of our worlds weighing heavy on our shoulders. We eat it, we smile, and say “I’m good, how are you?” when someone says hi or asks “How ya doin’?” When in reality we want to scream at the top of our lungs, “I’m not okay” or “I’m having a real sh*t day.”

What if, by silencing our feelings of being overwhelmed and overworked we are holding ourselves back from becoming who we are meant to be? By holding ourselves to some type of unrealistic expectation, we are preventing ourselves from experiencing what we are meant to become? Not only that but adding continued pressure on others? By allowing ourselves to be “weak” or to “show weakness,” we are actually being authentic, being human.

Knowing when enough is enough. Maybe this then allows others to do the same. To relate and to relish in the fact we all struggle with something time and time again, and that’s okay. It allows us to show up for one another. To love one another.

Society tells us to push through our pain, that it’s not okay to not be okay. I’m telling you, let’s stop. Let’s stop and feel our pain, our frustration, talk about our pain, disappointments, and grief. Be mindful and aware of ourselves. Our feelings. They matter. Share in the reality of this life together.

By sitting and staying and feeling our emotions and acknowledging our feelings we are giving ourselves authority to relate to ourselves, to feel what we feel, and move forward. We go through it. We can grow through it. We almost always come out on the other side stronger, wiser, and better. We learn, we grow, we become.

I’ve learned all this through my own personal life journey, my truth, my faith, and through yoga. Without pain, without suffering, there can be no joy. To truly appreciate those really good days, we have to experience the bad. To relate to others’ pain, and be there for others, we have to hold our own pain.

Pain isn’t bad, frustration isn’t bad, being sad isn’t bad, being mad isn’t bad—it’s what we do with it. It’s how we shine light onto those dark places and use our pain for good. It’s how we relate to one another and how we love each other.

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