Toxic Positivity, Chronic Complaining, and the Magic Middle Ground

Toxic positivity tells us to keep smiling. Chronic complaining tells us life is always hard. Somewhere in between is a much more honest (and helpful) space. Here’s what I’ve learned

There was a time not so long ago when I sat across from my doctor and said, “I don’t know who I am anymore.”

I’d always been the positive one. The everything-is-figureoutable girl. The one who could take a hard moment and flip it into a lesson, a laugh, or a laminated list of things to try next. But the version of me that moved back to Australia a few ye…