Your Emotions Do Not Own You: Let Them Flow And Then Be On Their Way.

Feelings only have the power you give them.

I think I love you. No, I don’t. Well, I loved you, yesterday. Now, I am not sure. Last week, I barely liked you. Tomorrow, who knows.

You get the idea. Do your feelings make you feel a little unstable, sometimes? Do your feelings make you question yourself, who you are and what you are doing? Haven’t we all? And we are not even talking about the object of your affection. That can happen over the outfit you are trying to decide to wear when you go out with your friends! When you were a kid, you didn’t even question the emotions until you were in your twenties, or older, when you really began to wonder: how can my emotions change so drastically so quickly?

We All Have Emotions, Even The Stoics Among Us.

Being emotional or sensitive is also somewhat frowned upon and considered weak or unstable in our society. Those people who can control their emotions and show little of them are considered the “strong” ones. Are they, though? Are they, really? If you can repress or hide your emotions, then you are "strong"? When I was in university, I took a course on health/medical psychology. I was young and very surprised to learn about the research on emotions, stress, depression, and physical disease. Not dealing with our emotions can make us sick? Apparently so. Research tells us that it is highly correlated with illness. The mind, emotions, body connection is stronger than we think.

Repressing our emotions is not strength.

.

Rather than show emotion, we believe that it is expected of us to be calm, strong, and unemotional. We deny our emotions because we believe that is what is expected of us, or we don’t want to feel weak or needy. Being logical or scientific is what our world typically seems to value. The problem with this is that we are emotional, feeling, beings. We aren’t robots and trying to behave like one can actually make us very ill. I know, because I have tried it and, trust me, it didn't work. And, yes, it made me ill.

I remember the first time I experienced a panic attack. My body reacted and I felt out of control, like a spinning top. Too much pain, not acknowledged, can overwhelm your whole body when you are least expecting it. Insomnia and anxiety, both so common in our world, are warning signs that we need to face our emotions and do something about them.

Wouldn't Life Be Easier Without Emotions?

Imagine life without emotions. Sure, we wouldn’t have sadness, but we also wouldn’t experience joy. We wouldn’t have anxiety, but we also wouldn’t experience excitement. We wouldn’t have pain, but we also wouldn’t experience bliss. We wouldn’t have hate, but we also wouldn’t have love. If it weren't for the darkness, we wouldn't recognize the light. God created both the light and the dark. The dark serves an important purpose, so too do our emotions. While many of our emotions do cause upset and pain, without emotion we would be empty, not experiencing joy, happiness, love or bliss either.

We are not as alone in our pain as we think.

We are not as alone in our pain as we think.

Emotions tell us when someone isn’t right in our lives. As a teenager, I experienced abuse at home on a daily basis, and I felt trapped and helpless. One day, while walking home, I saw a truck coming in my direction. I thought that if I stepped in front of it, all the pain would stop. The truck driver slowed down, possibly seeing my face, as I began walking closer to the road. We are not as alone in our pain as we believe. All of us have experienced pain. It is part of life.

Fortunately, I didn't step out in front of the truck that day. Despair can overwhelm us, at times, but situations, along with emotions, change. I was praying every day, and my home situation changed. A wonderful friend came into my life which eased my loneliness, and through her I was also offered a part-time job, which helped me get out of our apartment more. Life became more bearable.

We can feel trapped and helpless, but situations and emotions change.

Emotions serve an important purpose.

When we are angry, frustrated, disappointed or sad, these emotions tell us that something is happening in our lives that we need to address. It often leads us to look at our lives and to change them. What upset us? Was it a situation, a person, an environment, an event, or an occurrence that we didn’t like and that wasn’t healthy for us? Was it something we should have done differently? Was it a situation that made us uncomfortable? Did someone make us feel bad? These emotions can often keep us away from negative situations in our lives. What may be right for someone else, may not be right for us.

Our Emotions Only Have The Power We Give Them.

Getting in touch with our emotions can lead to positive changes in our lives. Your feelings serve you in a tremendous way and always have. Let's not run away from emotion. It is not the emotionless who are the "strong" ones. It is those of us who are brave enough to admit and face our emotions: Our fears, disappointments, and rejections, and allow them to flow through us, over us, and away from us. That's right, away from us. They don't own or define us. Our emotions only have the power we give them. They are just flowing through at the moment. They have no control over us, unless we give them that control. Do not. They are not who you truly are, your soul essence.

So, What Do You Do With That Painful Emotion?

Let painful emotions flow through you and then let them go.

The next time you are experiencing a painful emotion, feel it and allow it to flow through you and then picture pure, white, Divine, light falling over you, like a waterfall, taking the pain away, healing and cleansing you and replacing it with pure love and light. Imagine that emotion being released from you and flowing into the earth to be transmuted into love. Do this as often as you like until you feel peace. It may take some time, but be patient. Change will come.

Other ways to deal with difficult emotions are journaling, writing, painting, drumming, running, meditating, music, exercise, and anything that helps you release your emotions in a healthy way. Face your emotions or they will sabotage your life and happiness, and them let them go. Yes, Elsa had a good point. Let it go!

I wish I had known when I was younger how to deal with my emotions. Life would have been so much easier. But emotions are a gift. Sometimes, it doesn't seem that way, but they are. Allow yourself to feel them, recognize them and what they are trying to tell you, but then let them be on their way.

Deborah Ann Minke, M.A., B. Ed., OCT, CH-C

Energize and Rise LLC

https://www.energizeandrise.com

(I write my own blogs :)