When I was growing up, I would get excited about things and if they didn't turn out the way I wanted them to, I would feel really disappointed. Then eventually, I stopped myself from feeling excited because the possible disappointment was too much to bear. The disappointment was too painful. If I didn't get so excited, I wouldn't become so disappointed.

My excitement was conditional. It depended on the outcome and the results of what I wanted. It came with expectations. I know I'm not the only one. Then I had a child, and I saw him going through the same experience. And I got to learn, from guiding him, that you, I, we, get to feel excited, regardless of the outcome, regardless of the results. The outcome really doesn't matter.

Most things we do in life are motivated by creating/manifesting a specific result. But what if, the perceived outcome was a mere backdrop? An illusion set in place to activate movement towards it? It's not the result that defines you. It's who you become and what you strengthen/develop while achieving your results - that's what defines you.

Can you allow yourself to feel excitement regardless of the outcome, regardless of the result? Can you allow yourself to feel excited and release the expectation? Because even when things "don't work out," they are "working out," for us. Not for our egos, but for our highest good. And if you can let go of needing to depend on the results or the outcome, you can invite excitement back into your life. And you get to feel excited - no matter what.

I'm teaching my son that it's okay to feel all of his feelings. That we as humans get to experience a vast array of emotions. We label them as "good" or "bad" but they are neither. They are just feelings. All they want is to be acknowledged and felt. And when we hold space to feel, they move through us like passing clouds... and all is well.

Part of the human experience is to feel. So let the feels feel. No need to hold on, maintain, sustain or repress or deny. I share with him that many people have problems when they reject their feelings: Their human experience. And he doesn't need to do that.

Crying is not weak. Crying is simply a release of emotions. A purge. We cry when we are sad, we cry when we are happy. We cry when we are in pain, we cry when we are enraged. We cry when we are afraid. We cry when we are overjoyed, overwhelmed, ecstatic, moved, inspired. It's okay to cry. It's part of the human experience. And he is a beautiful human.