Feel What you Feel

Feelings - An emotionally driven state

Feelings are a strange thing. Feelings bubble up inside of us to give us information about the situation we're experiencing. Yet, many of us spend a lot of time working really hard to avoid our feelings. We medicate away our feelings, we drink away our feelings, we smile away our feelings, we sleep away our feelings, and so much more. But what if we stopped trying to outrun our feelings and instead chose to sit with them for a while?

If we would start acknowledging and respecting our feelings as though they were old friends, we would have a fuller and richer life experience. You see, feelings tell us about the world and our place in it. Feelings let us know when we are being mistreated, when we are engaging with someone we can't trust, when we are loved, and when it's time to move on. Our feelings let us know our place in other people's lives and give us a sense of how we view ourselves. But we have to choose to listen to those feelings.

We have to choose to sit in the discomfort that comes with difficult and complex feelings. Feeling afraid is not comfortable. But what is the fear trying to tell you? Feeling sad isn't comfortable. But why are you sad? What is the sadness trying to tell you? Feeling confused is complicated. But what is needed to give you clarity? We have to learn to appreciate our feelings as experience maps meant to help us navigate our world.

So, the next time you need to cry...cry. The next time you want to smile like no one's watching...smile. The next time you want to feel what you're feeling...do it.

With Gratitude,