In a way, these last few months been wonderful, healing, and rejuvenating for me.

And then, they’ve also been uncomfortable and painful, at least in some ways, in some moments.

It’s such a strange thing—to feel such contrasting feelings at once.

I feel them coexisting alongside each other—the excitement, the hope, the warmth, the inspiration, along with the sadness, the ache, the pain that also lingers and breathes there.

It often feels like I feel it all at once, at the same time—to varying degrees depending on what is dominating my current experience.

Even when I feel inspired, focused, and excited, I can still feel the distant ache, the tug of pain that lingers beneath it.

And even when I feel the sadness more acutely, more fully, I can still hold the general awareness that it’s not my full experience. It’s not all of it. I know that the moment will pass. And when I allow it, figuratively wrap my arms around it and hold it, when I allow it to fill my awareness and speak to me, I also feel a tenderness, a warmth of love for myself—because I’m taking care of myself in the way that I need.

I’m listening to myself. I’m being present. I’m holding space for myself.

It’s beautiful.

It’s beautiful to be present with ourselves.

Life is wonderful, and sometimes it’s painful and difficult.

And even when it’s painful and difficult, it’s also wonderful.

There’s so much beauty beating in every moment.

It doesn’t have to be in the forced “look for things you’re grateful for” kind of way. Rather, the beauty, the joy, can arise effortlessly. We simply see the good, the beauty, the opportunity. We breathe in a feeling of lightness, of peace.

We see a sunrise, or feel the warmth of the sun on our face, or breathe in fresh air, or see how excited our dog is when we go out for a walk, how present they are, and it can make us smile.

Seeing the good, the beauty in these moments comes through simply being open enough to see them as they arise in our experience, to feel them, to open to them, and to be present with them.

We can even feel a deep appreciation for the more difficult moments if we can see the lessons we’re being presented with, the opportunities that linger in this space for us.

Our lives as we live them are filled with all sorts of emotions and experiences and feelings. Some feel good and some feel less good, but they’re all just happening. In a way, things just happen and we experience them.

But we can choose how we experience them.

If we can simply allow what’s happening to happen, accept it, be present with it, and be open to learning what we can from it, we can live our lives with greater presence and peace.

We might ache, we might on some level wish things were different or wish that we didn’t have to experience what we’re experiencing, but we can also feel some peace with what’s happening, some acceptance, some understanding.

And we can use it to connect more deeply with ourselves.

One of the best things we can do for ourselves, I feel, is to allow it all, feel it all, be with it all. It’s to be present with ourselves through all of our experiences—to allow what is happening to happen.

We can “ride the waves”—moving into the joy and being carried along, at times, with the sadness—understanding that the ache won’t last forever.

Acceptance can bring us such peace. When we accept that what’s happening is happening, truly accept it, we soften. A softening happens from deep within us. It arises from inside of us.

Our situations are what they are. What is happening is happening. We may not like it, or we may be okay with it. But whether we like it or not, it’s happening. The things that are happening are happening.

We may have parts of us that resist, parts that wish things were different, parts that are unhappy with the way that things are unfolding, but we can also simply understand—deeply—that things are the way they are.

And we can accept it all—our situations, our feelings, the varying emotions, even the parts of us that want to fight and resist (because it’s natural and oh-so-normal).

And then we can intentionally come back to ourselves.

Soften.

Turn inward.

Connect to ourselves.

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