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A spiritual comment and prayer to start the day with Steve Taylor

Some people feel that sadness is a sign of weakness. We鈥檙e supposed to be cheerful, or at least to present a cheerful exterior to the world. When friends or colleagues ask us how we are, no one expects us to say, 鈥淚 feel quite down at the moment actually.鈥� Public shows of sadness are embarrassing. If someone starts sobbing during a work meeting, or leaves a party because they feel depressed, it鈥檚 a serious breach of social codes.

We might also feel ashamed of sadness, as if we鈥檙e letting ourselves down. Surely sadness means that our lives are not running smoothly, that we鈥檝e allowed negativity to enter our minds. Surely if we were living in the right way, we鈥檇 feel happy all the time.

But all this ignores the important function of sadness. From time to time, we are inevitably exposed to suffering 鈥� other people鈥檚 suffering or our own. From time to time, we鈥檒l face hardship and turmoil in our lives. Sadness is a coping mechanism. It helps us to process suffering. If we don鈥檛 allow ourselves to feel sad, suffering stays inside, and builds up pressure, and may even poison us, turning into bitterness and guilt.

Sadness releases the pressure and has a therapeutic effect. Or as I express it poetically:

After your sadness has passed
you鈥檒l feel cleansed and refreshed
like a plain that鈥檚 more fertile, after a flood has ebbed away.

Inside the great space of your being
you鈥檒l feel deeper with humility
richer with sensitivity
more radiant with compassion
and more passionate with selfless desire
to bring healing to the world.

So today, if I feel waves of sadness inside me, I won鈥檛 suppress them. I will allow them to flow through me, to express themselves and then pass.

Blessings.

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