As I sort myself out, I am becoming far more honest about what I do and don’t believe/want. I am also becoming far more irritable and intolerant. It’s part of the process of clearing things out, most satisfying to finally admit what I feel without apology but, no lie, it is emotionally dysregulating in the extreme!
What is the point of emotions? It’s all about placement. Are you at threat or at risk? Are you in alignment? Are you peaceful? Are you vigilant?
We ignore emotions at our peril. They transcend language but they are protective. We try to describe them but we can’t properly.
And there’s a key in the protective nature of our feelings. They are anchored in a particular point of time, they were a defence mechanism that, left unexamined, will slowly gnaw away and destroy you. Most people are living out unquestioned shields from their experiences. You see it when you either say “no” to people or say something they hadn’t considered.
Emotions are a pause, a pattern interrupt, an opportunity to assess if you’re living life well. Think of a sunset, it brings you back to reality with a joyful jolt, witness a car crash it brings you back to reality with fear and shock!
Here’s the issue though – we judge ourselves for what we feel saying we’re too soft or too weak, too easily moved, too reactive but the feelings are not voluntary, they are responses in alignment with our values that go to the core.
We judge our emotions at our ultimate peril. Here’s where you can be free – radical acceptance. Denial is death. We feel what we feel and the feelings are useful, they are tools not weapons.
Doing the right things, doing the wrong things, we know by how we react emotionally.
Start to trust them.
Start to trust yourself!