You're Not the Boss of Me

I’m fortunate to do work that I love with so many amazing people.  Some of these people have lived painful lives, yet they manage to hold on to the rare moments of joy.  Others have moved from one disappointment to another without ever giving up.  They are quiet heroes who trust themselves enough to be beautifully human.

People think that it's my role to help others find their truth.  However, this week I was the one who learned something very profound, and I wanted to share it with you because I believe that it is important:

Making friends with our emotions helps us to make friends with ourselves.

Life is not constant, it is not perfect - nor is it meant to be.  We cannot control the world around us, but we can decide how we react to it.  Sometimes we react to the world without thinking, without giving ourselves the space to understand what we are reacting too.  

Sometimes we move when we don't know which direction is the right one for us.

It can be a challenge to deal with the world around us we face unexpected struggles.  This is usually when we react without thinking and become subjugated by our feelings.  Emotions are a huge part of being human, but not everyone is comfortable with all of those strange swirls of sentiment churning around inside of us.  

Emotions can be difficult to manage and hard to accept...unless we are willing to spend some quality time with them.

The biggest problem with these sensations is that we’ve been convinced that they only come in two sizes: good and bad.  Believing that feelings have a specific value limits how we view them.  If we consider an emotion to be bad, then we aren’t going to be comfortable with experiencing it, are we?  And that can limit how we view our own experiences.

But what if emotions are just...emotions?  Not good or bad, not right or wrong.  How about accepting that they are simply a part of us - the part of us that makes us wonderfully complicated and beautifully flawed beings with the capability to experience amazing things.  

Sometimes we do feel anger, or hate, or disappointment - things that society tells us are wrong, but these sentiments are quite normal and perfectly acceptable.  

Emotions can be problematic when they cause actions that harm others through hurtful words or inappropriate actions.  Or when we fail to accept that what is going on inside of us is natural.  How often have we turned against ourselves for not reacting the way we want to, or for experiencing some sentiment that doesn’t jive with our particular brand of logic?

Rather than turn that anger inward, why not sit with those emotions and get to know them? Go ahead and befriend them and accept that they are a part of you - and You are pretty awesome.

As I end the week I look forward to getting better acquainted with those intangible sensations that bounce about inside of me as I go about my life.  This week was pretty awesome - and with my emotions as my allies rather than occasionally bossy me about, the future will undoubtedly be pretty amazing.

Love and Chocolate,

~Erika