I’m “Moody Trudy” today, readers. I can’t really explain why. I had a great weekend with my family. I love the extra hour of sleep the fall Daylight Savings Times gifts to us. Sometimes you just wake up with the weight of the world on your shoulders and you need some time to let the Bigger Hands lift the weight off. My poor husband look bewildered and worried as usually “happy-go-lucky me” couldn’t read the news to him, like I do every morning, without choking up at the grim, dark stories that seem to be piling up these days, with a crazy momentum that needs to be slowed.
It’s okay to feel sad sometimes. It’s okay to feel overwhelmed and scared. It’s important to let yourself feel your feelings. Feelings won’t kill you. The goal is to feel your feelings and let them pass through you, because they always do. I’m feeling lifted already as I write this.
“Listen to your feelings, but don’t dance to them.” -unknown
It is important to use your feelings as a navigation system, but don’t become them. Don’t let your feelings swallow up your identity. Often it is your thoughts that are big cause of your feelings. So when you are feeling a “negative” feeling, it is good to examine the thoughts that are creating that feeling. Often the thoughts that create negative feelings aren’t even really true or they are greatly exaggerated. Sometimes we give too much credence to the thoughts of others and claim these thoughts as our own, without even realizing it.
“Before you diagnose yourself with depression or low self-esteem, first make sure that you are not surrounded by assholes.” – Notorious d.e.b.
When the negative thoughts and feelings arise, it’s best not to resist them. It’s best not to bury them, because then they often end up showing up in our physical bodies as illness or pain. If we let our emotions flow like water, we will quickly return to our more tranquil way of being.
“We cannot write in water . . . we cannot carve in water. Water’s nature is to flow and that is how we should treat life . . . emotion, negative or positive. Do not deny it, but always let it flow through and then away.” – Dr. Tae Yun Kim
At the very least, when I am feeling lowly, I can usually tap into my compassion for others in a deep way. When you are typically a cheery, upbeat person, people sometimes don’t realize that you feel sad at times, too. We are all great at creating outsides that make others believe that it wouldn’t be possible for us to ever feel despondent. When you have a nice house, a good marriage, healthy kids, etc. you even sometimes judge yourself for having sad thoughts. But the spectrum of emotion belongs to us all. No one is immune to the rainbow hues of feelings, thoughts and sensitivities that ebb and flow through all of us on a daily basis.
“People can be so quiet about their pain, that you forget that they are hurting. That is why it is so important to always be kind.” – Nikita Gill
