Emotions are a funny thing

 Many times emotions are an indicator that something is going on inside us. And other times, they are straight out lies. It’s no wonder people get confused about emotions and what they are and how they’re supposed to deal with or respond to them. I feel our society today has looked at negative emotions, you know, painful ones, as bad and will do everything to get rid of them, whether that be with medication, a new house, a new outfit vacation, and basically everything external from us. On the other side of the token, all the pleasant emotions are manipulated to be extravagant even better again with medication alcohol is a big one shopping gambling vacations, etc. So where do we go? How do we figure out this funny thing called emotions? How do we navigate through them?

I’m sorry to tell you that there is no one simple answer or solution. What I can tell you is that the solution is creating or recognizing your mind-body connection. And there are many ways to go about doing that. Meditations are a great way to form that mind-body connection. Now there are many ways to meditate, and I am not going to go into that here. I have in the past episodes talked in a great deal about meditations. So if you are interested in learning more, you can check out my blog post, our video, or podcast on meditation. Most importantly, when experiencing a state change in your body, it’s important to ask yourself questions to see what specifically it signifies.

If you have had children, you know, especially with the first one, you don’t know what the baby wants when it cries. Most of us go through a list of things to check for, like is he hungry, is she tired, colicky? Does he have a dirty diaper, or maybe she just wants to be held and rocked? And of course, every child is different, so when you have your own child, you’ll get a lot of information from Other mothers, but basically, you need to figure out what your baby needs are and what the cries sound like for those needs. And you do, after a time, you begin to recognize when the baby cries this way; it wants this. So the mind-body connection is basically recognizing when you feel something and connecting it to what your body needs. Are you hungry? Are you tired? Have you done some self-care? have you been eating well? Have you been exercising? Is there something that you used to do that you haven’t been doing? Is there something you told yourself you were going to start doing but haven’t been doing, so now your conscious feels guilty?  Once you practice this for a while and get used to the patterns of what you’re feeling and what that signifies, it will be easier for you to identify. So I know when I become snappy with people short-tempered, I am not resting well, and I need a break. When I become very weepy and emotional, I know it’s because I haven’t had any family connection or emotional connection with someone I care for in a while. It may be different for you, so you want to ask these questions and get familiar with what your body is telling you.

OK, now it’s time for the monkey wrench. Feelings aren’t necessarily facts. Doreen, what are you talking about? You just told us that we need to get that mind-body connection and that our emotions are signals. Yes, but sometimes when we’re feeling something, it’s not true. Just because your boss or partner looked at you in a funny way or spoke with a sharp tone doesn’t mean that he or she is mad at you. Sometimes people are rushed or even Having a bad moment, and it’s also possible that you are misinterpreting the message. Unfortunately, in the process, you could be feeling horrible about a negative outcome. Then you can walk around for days thinking that you are in trouble or that your life as you know it is over. It doesn’t have to be that way. The best thing to do when you feel like something isn’t right is to check it out. Please don’t sit on it, push it down, or try to ignore it; your emotions won’t cooperate. Sometimes the only way out is by getting into the feelings and first looking at how you might be creating them. Combine that with some gentle, not accusatory, questioning of the person or people who you believe may be the cause. Look for the truth, and be open to see how it’s possible that your feelings may not be accurate. It also can be helpful to get an outside perspective from someone you trust. This process isn’t an easy one, but it is far less painful than living your life like your world is crashing in on you.

 

I hope you find this helpful. If you like my blogs, please check me out on youtube or social media. I’m on Facebook and Instagram under Recovery Enthusiast. You can also check out my podcasts on Anchor under Motivations 4U. And if you really can’t get enough of me, you can check out my online courses at recoveryenthusiast.com If you click on the pink of any of those you will be linked to that page 😊

As always, stay blessed and live enthusiastically!!