RE: It's okay to not be okay (or: freeing yourself from the false "power of positivity")
I agree on saying that there is no quick fix to deeper problem and that in many a case, too much of the good can be just as bad. I am also very much against taking any kinds of drugs or medication to manipulate the mood.
With that being said, I consider myself to be a much more positive man than I was a couple years ago, I would like to think that I worked hard for it and that it is making me feel better about myself one way or the other.
On the other hand, I see people suffering from problems that keep troubling them for months while I have learned to just shrug them off to an extend. One could argue whether one or the other is better, but I for myself feel better the way it is now.
On the other hand, I do have the concern of feeling that this approach also made me a bit numb towards the pleasures in life. But that may also be because of other factors.
I am happy for you and feel the same; I am so much happier and more at peace now... it seems paradoxical but acknowledging the negative parts truly does allow them to heal, and that's what has brought me the most peace and freedom (instead of resisting and running, which only creates more long-term suffering). I think we all have different sensitivities and triggers, and a lot of the work I'm talking about is identifying what they are for us personally, understanding why they're there, and giving them compassion. :)
There isn't much "acknowledging" of problems from my side either. If I have a problem, either solve it or stop caring about it all that much. Sounds oversimplified, but that is basically the gist of it.
I agree on the triggers though. I think I have a solid grasp on what triggers me in a way that makes me not pursuit these things as much as I perhaps should, but I have yet to figure out the triggers for the opposite.