A low point happens to everyone. Mine too. I’m experiencing one right now.

Certainly, doing what I do, people don’t expect me to go through lows. Or at least, they expect …

“Come on, Linda! Laugh! It’ll get better!”

Every time I hear this phrase, I grit my teeth a little because, yes, laughing makes you feel better and gets you through the turmoil with a lighter heart, of course.

But…

The troughs are there. We mustn’t ignore them, put them off, or try to get out of them quickly at all costs. That wouldn’t solve anything. What’s more, I have the impression that trying to run away or forget would sometimes make things even worse.

Without going into too much detail, the past year has brought me some truly intense experiences. I accompanied a dear friend in the last months of her life in Toronto, and was with her right up to the end, when she was able to receive medical assistance in dying. A roller-coaster of emotions. It was a privilege to be with someone who had been in my life for almost 30 years, to celebrate her accomplishments, to be a loving, smiling and reassuring presence for her, to witness her generosity to so many during her all-too-short life. To accompany her towards “the great and beautiful never seen“.. Yes. A privilege.

It was a great challenge to stay the course, to remain faithful to my laughter yoga commitments (I do the sessions on Urgence Rire 3 times a week and on RigoloZoom once a week) in addition to my conferences and workshops with numerous groups and work teams. And yet I succeeded. Don’t ask me how! For a year.

This is when “the thing catches up with me”. After balancing everything for almost a year, my body is now asking me to slow down and take the time to rock gently. So I listen and do. I don’t try to pretend everything’s fine or chase after miracle solutions that will make the temporary discomfort disappear. I stay present and fully aware.

I’m sharing all this with you because I’m convinced that you may recognize yourself in what I’m writing today. You’re also going through the rough patches that sometimes occur in our lives. Those moments when we don’t really recognize ourselves. Wanting to shake things up so that the feeling of melancholy, grief, pain and gloom goes away and is replaced by calm, serenity, energy and good humor. We want the sun to shine… at all times.

And I find the expression “trough of the wave” a very good visual representation of what’s going on inside us and our emotions.

Have you ever been on a boat navigating rough seas (lakes or rapids)? If you’ve never experienced it, you’ve probably seen a film showing the sea breaking, the waves surrounding the ship and forming an impassable fortress, with breakers up to 9 meters high. The ups and downs of life.

If you’ve ever experienced a storm at sea, you probably remember how the ship feels when it’s at the top of the wave, and how it feels when it’s at the bottom. Even if we’re a little scared, we KNOW that we won’t stay at the top or the bottom of the wave! That both are stages and cycles that follow each other and PASS. Until the storm subsides.

Nicole Bourget, who taught me at university, used to hammer home the point that “what you resist persists”.

So I have no intention of resisting right now. I’m letting myself hit the bottom of the wave because I’m deeply convinced that I’m going to get back up and ride the crest of the next one!

There’s no need to run away from the storm. It’s here… and it’s TEMPORARY.

And that’s what I’ve been telling myself for the past few weeks. All this is TEMPORARY.

I live what I have to live in this experience and I KNOW that I’m not “like that” forever. The proof? I’m able to tell you all about it. In all simplicity and transparency. I’m able to do it because I’m CERTAIN! It’s TEMPORARY.

Let’s not give up hope.

Laughter, joy and health

Linda

p.s.: This is also what the CRYING LAUGHTER teaches us.

p.p.s.: I’ve inserted links to two wonderful songs that go well with what I’m writing here. The first by Michel Rivard (Le beau grand jamais vu) and the second by my friend Lucie Raîche (Un arbre à la terre).

p.p.p.s.: and to make sure I don’t forget, I put a reminder right there on the corner of my computer screen!

p.p.p.p.s.: The nice picture is by Amélie Montplaisir and it’s called “Surfeuse sereine” I have the reproduction in my office! Surfing the wave…