To deny yourself the right to feel, is to deny yourself the right to be human.

Isn’t it more ‘elite’ to live above a base emotional level & to focus instead on the virtues of discipline & self-control? ‘Elite’ perhaps, but usually the more difficult & challenging option! 

Feelings are your friend! 

Although we don’t live by them, we simply MUST hear them, acknowledge them, feeeeel them…. then make right choices despite them!

Emotions are alive! 

When we ignore them, or bury them, their ‘life’ squirts out in other ways. Mismanaged emotions can result in physical, nervous, or mental conditions/labels.

In relation to feelings, consider that what goes up, must always come down again!

Acknowledge the fear 

Fear can be realized as you consider letting go & forgiving; fear that next time will be the same; the same misunderstandings, the same emotional torment/turmoil, the same prison , the same feelings of being backed into the corner again! Face your fears head on! Be real with yourself, & decide/choose, to do it afraid anyway! Realize that often the feelings will be mostly negative until new pathways of managing the feelings are grasped; until new pathways in your thinking are forged; ‘new pathways of righteousness,……for His names sake’.

Understand that the emotional response to feeling threatened & backed into a corner is to become hostile & defensive. You will default to reacting every time until you begin to catch & identify the feelings and discipline yourself to respond differently!

Journal DAILY

Consider starting a ‘feelings’ Journal. Stop, look & listen by asking, what am I feeling right now? Write it down. (It may look s’thing like a Melbourne weather report; changing often & suddenly, but that’s okay! The nature of feelings are indeed fickle! Validate your feelings, but understand & remember their untrustworthy nature! Be careful not to over-intellectualize or journal your thoughts, just your feelings. A helpul list follows:-Am I angry, joyful, hurt, hateful, sad, peaceful, loved, scared, excited, worried, loving, satisfied

Tune into what your soul is telling you & tell yourself, ‘all is well with my soul’. Even when the feelings are what they are, & often negative, ‘all is well with my soul’!!!

Choose to allow yourself to FEEL! Determine the emotion, then thoughtfully choose the right response! Control your feelings, instead of allowing them to control you!

Remember, it’s not your emotions that are bad, but the thought processes attached to the feelings that start a negative chain reaction!