Wednesday's Thought - Choosing How we Feel

Is choosing how we feel really possible?

Do you wish we could feel joyful and happy and lively all the time, every day? That some kind of plug-in device to our brains could exist that neutralizes feelings of fear, anger, frustration, hurt, disappointment or discomfort?

People have found a long time ago substitutes for that plug-in device, whether they be drug, alcohol, food, shopping, jogging, cleaning, washing, repeating, driving, sleeping, talking, watching TV, cooking, or whatever else. No one likes feeling pain. And I'm certainly no different. I like to eat chocolate when I feel overwhelmed. But no matter how much of it I eat, it never makes my discomfort go away. In fact, it only adds heartburn to my feelings of uneasiness. How about you? What's you're favorite substitute?

However, as I grow older - yes, there are many positive aspects in getting older - I have found that feeling “happy” or “angry” is based on how I'm interpreting each situation in my life and the meaning I associate to it. Feeling overwhelmed often times means I'm trying to do everything at once or that I have set unrealistic goals for myself. Feeling overwhelmed is a signal I need to pause, prioritize and focus on what I can control. 

Feelings of discomfort make you take action, any action, to make them go away.

Acknowledging feelings of discomfort, on the other hand,

allows you to look deep within yourself and understand where they come from. 

Naming and acknowledging your feelings shift them to your conscious mind. From there and by having a good look deep within yourself, you can figure out what your next steps should be. Often times you'll find in yourself unresolved issues still hanging around or patterns in behaviors that no longer serve you. Be thankful for that: taking action to wash them away will forbid the negative feelings to surface again and again and prevent you from relapsing into those unpleasant moods.

Tony Robbins is absolutely right when he says "you can reshape your daily experience of life by taking control of your consistent emotions." We just need to commit. Commit to ourselves and to our full potentials. We all have an integrated happy plug-in device and we can all consciously choose joy. Every day.

To your expansion and joy,

Patricia

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