 I feel like there's a fundamental misunderstanding of what positive thinking actually is. Somewhere along the way we began associating this idea with the people who never show any sadness, pain, hurt, weakness, grief, and just keep going. They smile through everything. They are beacons of light. And as someone who's often complimented for my positivity, I hate that because I feel like it is so empty without the other side of the story. I did not believe for a single second that positive thinking is worth a damn unless we are also willing to admit and feel the depth of what we are pushing through. Being a positive person doesn't mean you just smile and keep going through everything. For me, it means looking the grief, the trauma, the grossness of what life has dealt is square in the face. Not shoving it down, not pushing it to the side, but confronting it square on as the bullshit that it so often is and deciding that gosh darn it, this sucks, but I am going to find a way to keep going. Being a beacon of positivity does not mean that you don't hurt. It means that you are brave enough to feel and face the pain and decide that even if you can't see the path yet you were going to keep going.