Can You Be in a Great Mood Even If You Feel Like Crap?

I knew that separating the physical and spiritual was a possibility — but not for me.

Photo by author.

Last week something new was experienced around here.

I felt like crap — headache, slight nausea — and still, I was in a great mood. It might not sound like such a big deal, but as someone whose emotional state has always taken its cue from the physical, it’s pretty huge.

In recent years I’ve considered the fact that it’s possible for a body to feel bad, and for the mind-spirit to carry on in a perfectly fine mood. I liked that idea, but didn’t think it was really possible for me to experience such an evolved state-hood. (One might say it’s not “evolved,” it just is.)

My husband is a good model for me. He’s one of those people who, when he feels poorly, keeps quiet about it, doesn’t attach a bucket of meaning and waits for things to get better, which they invariably do. And if they don’t, he sees a doctor. I know he’s not doing well when, say, we’re starting a walk and he says, “I feel a bit off, can we go back?”

A statement like this used to set off all the alarms: WHAT’S WRONG? WHERE DOES IT HURT? WHY? SEE DOCTOR? I DON’T WANT TO BE A WIDOW!