{*Did you know you can write on Elephant? Here’s how—big changes: How to Write & Make Money or at least Be of Benefit on Elephant. ~ Waylon}

A few days ago I woke up confused.

I wasn’t sure what I was feeling. Was it happiness or sadness? I couldn’t for the life of me pinpoint my feelings or express them properly.

So I started looking for clues. Let’s see…a few things got on my nerves, so I must have felt irritated. But something else made my heart warm, so maybe I was feeling a bit of happiness too.

By the end of that day I was feeling extremely stressed. Forcing myself to be in a certain mood and trying to identify it was hard—and futile.

Although my chaotic emotions had troubled me, they taught me something precious.

I know you’ve been there too. Sometimes we can’t understand our emotions and might end up feeling upset because we haven’t been able to attach to a specific emotional state.

Uncertainty scares us. Our ego gets terrified when we can’t give our feelings a name. We must know what takes over bodies and minds. What’s the point if there isn’t a proper label that defines who we are at this very moment?

So we feel powerless—unworthy, even. I’ve been there many a time and I regret not knowing that happiness isn’t what truly matters.

We talk a lot about happiness—how to pursue it, how to attain it, how to keep it. We even hail its opposite and learn how to grieve or be genuinely sad.

However, I’ve realized that there’s something deeper that goes beyond emotions. It’s a state of mind. It’s…

Acceptance

Accepting what we feel right now—whether it’s joy, anxiety, fear, sadness, exhaustion, excitement, or serenity—is all what truly matters.

Emotions come and go, but a state of mind stays. The other day when I couldn’t decide how to feel, I was looking for an identity. I wanted something to define me. But I could have simply practiced acceptance. I could have accepted that my mood was simply out of whack, and that’s okay.

Acceptance teaches us to become friends with our emotional storms—the good and the bad. It teaches us to stay in the present moment and embrace what’s happening instead of running away from it to look for something better or more relatable.

In my opinion, acceptance is true happiness, even when we’re not feeling great.

So the next time you feel emotionally and mentally exhausted, remember to embrace the chaos of your current state of mind. Let it be, then let it pass. Accepting our feelings as they are means we are brave enough to be in this moment without wearing any masks.

~