Feelings...

3 minute read 

  Are they a help or a hindrance?

Something to accept or deny ?

Do they have a constructive purpose?

Are they trying to tell me something?

What happens if I listen to them?

What do I do with them if I do listen?

Who is responsible for how I feel?

What if they make me feel bad?

What if life is easier when I deny them?

What happens when I acknowledge them?

How can I afford to listen to them when they will bring me undone?

One thing is certain… they are very powerful .

We also need them to be validated as part of me right now, good bad or ugly and brought into relationship with trusted people who can listen, empathise and also tell us the truth.

When we deny our feelings for a time to be able to function, we are employing a safety mechanism which has purpose for a temporary time and setting.

When that mechanism becomes a way of life, past its use by date, it will interfere with my wellbeing and the ability to sustain good relationships in life .

Accessing and accepting our feelings without judgement and listening to what they tell us, can give us the space to question them. This questioning about the reasons for feeling that way, can uncover the thoughts that always sit behind.

If I then examine my thoughts, I will find that what I believe and value are there and that perhaps I have been believing and valuing some things that have been formed in earlier days through pain and trauma that is understandable… but may not be fully true.

These beliefs and values that hide down deeply can be the source of limitations and frustrations that are unseen in everyday life but can be brought up into the light simply by listening to and questioning our feelings.

This valuable information that comes from our often shut away and denied feelings, is the stuff that opens us up to growth and healing and actions that take us forward, such as the essential art of forgiveness that always brings freedom.

Feelings are a precious gift and a worthy tool to employ.

They give us the necessary information we need …

… to increase our capacity for love and life.