Photo: Ashley Webb

Getting Over It

Once, during a particularly heartbroken time in my life, I cried to my friend Gene about what I was going through, about how it was the most devastating thing that had ever happened to me, how I was never going to get over it, how I wanted to walk into a river with rocks in my pockets, and how I was sure that losing someone who’s still alive might be worse than losing someone to death because at least you can’t run into a dead person in the checkout line at Whole Foods, right?

With a complete lack of sympathy, Gene rolled his eyes and said, “Oh, please. Everybody breaks up or gets dumped eventually. Get over it.”

At the time I did not think I would ever get over it. But this is what I’ve learned in the last decade about love, heartbreak, happiness, sadness, and every other state of mind in between: to a certain extent they’re all choices. What I mean is, I have discovered that my true happiness has very little to do with what is actually happening to me on a day-to-day basis. Rather, it has everything to do with my perspective on what’s happening to me. Which is not to say my feelings of utter despair were not real or valid. They most certainly were. But sometimes we hang onto those feelings a lot longer than we need to. Sometimes we allow ourselves to get too comfortable in the place where those feelings live, completely oblivious to the fact that we don’t even feel them anymore.

Whether you’re still in that place of despair or you’ve triumphantly moved on, there’s a song in this playlist for you.

And the truth is, my friend Gene was right. If I would have known then what I know now I would have shed 10,0000 less tears. But of course only hindsight is 20/20. I’m just grateful I can now listen to these songs without wanting to walk into a river with rocks in my pockets.

 

P.S. – I posted last week’s playlist out a little late. Here’s the link in case you missed it: “Yoga with Dead People”

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Follow Bright Antenna Records on Facebook and Twitter to receive a heads up when each week’s playlist hits elephant journal. For our more yoga playlists, including Bowie Yoga, Grunge Yoga and Disco Yoga, visit Bright Antenna’s Spotify page.

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Editor: Kate Bartolotta

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