Change is the nature of the universe. Change is inevitable.
We can either learn to work with it, and allow the natural course of transformation to unfold, or we can resist it. Regardless, it will happen, so how about flowing with change? Imagine your own evolution, growth and success as being unstoppable!
Let’s take improving your mood as an example of going with the flow of change. When you’re in a bad mood, do you tend to put on a happy face, think don’t worry and be happy, or “fake it till you make it”? Are these techniques really following the organic process of change, or are they ways of shoving feelings under the rug?
I’ve learned that the key to moving into a positive emotional state is allowing myself to fully feel whatever emotions I’m experiencing in the moment. It can be very challenging to sit with these feelings — it doesn’t always feel safe, comfortable or flattering. Yet, if I trust that change is the natural way of things, then I can allow myself to feel the seemingly unbearable emotional depths of many less-than-pleasant feelings: guilt, despair, sadness, remorse, anger, jealousy or hatred. These emotions then transform into a whole new cycle of feelings.
We are not given a guidebook on how to maneuver ourselves through these less-than-positive feelings, yet they must be felt and expressed, not ignored. They are a vital part of being alive, and resisting these emotions drains your vitality. It takes a lot of work to repress intense emotions.
While it can be difficult to admit to many of these feelings, avoiding them simply delays processing them. Eventually they will come back when you least expect it, catching you and those around you by surprise.
You must move through the negative feelings before you can truly move into the positive. Keeping your emotional vessel emptied out by consistently feeling and acknowledging all your emotions is being fully alive.
As very young children, we are fully expressed. Yet, as we grow up, we get the message that we should just “get over” bad or negative feelings or that they are wrong. Well, I say phooey! We were born human and we stay human with the whole spectrum of emotions from birth to death. To deny we have negative feelings kills our passion; to put a lid on any single emotion dampens them all.
If I am feeling really frustrated, I let it out. Angry? I let ‘er rip! Sad? I let those tears flow until they are all out and down the drain. Underneath those negative feelings are rich and wonderfully positive ones waiting to be revealed, including hope, faith, and the innate knowledge that everything will turn out — that life always delivers another opportunity for fun and wonderful adventures.
So as you let yourself feel every emotion that comes up, watch them shift and change. You may be surprised and delighted by where they take you: Those negative feelings can lift away and be released when they are felt and expressed, making room for the deep satisfaction of authentic joy.
To be fully alive, we must be fully expressed. Once you experience the exhilaration of feeling all that you can and the freedom of expressing all that you feel, your life force and energy will be unstoppable!