Everyone always perceives strong emotions as negative. It’s not often that you find someone that will allow themselves to cry, embrace their anger, confusion, jealousy, anything. But we should, and here’s why.
Without emotions and feelings we are mindless robots. We lose the uniqueness, our sense of self and identity as a whole. Emotions are what make us human; they are what make us us. If I did not get upset when a boy I liked did not like me back, or angry when someone betrayed me, who or what would I be?
If my heart didn’t flutter every time I saw a beautiful image of nature, or a cute puppy; if I didn’t get excited when my food was ready, or when my paycheck rolls in, I would lose that part of my personality. If I didn’t spend hours upon hours crying over the boy who broke my heart, I would have never come to the realization that I deserve better. Emotions, subtle or intense, make us who we are.
Emotions are your body's way of communicating with you. How many times did you get a feeling in the pit of your stomach about a particular situation and dismissed it? And how many times did you kick yourself for not trusting your instincts? This is what happens when your thoughts and emotions predict something. Your thoughts and emotions are guiding you through life. So why are we so quick to suppress our emotions? Haven’t we figured out by now that this will only cause us to explode?
So what would happen if we embraced our emotions? If we sat on our beds and allowed ourselves to feel sad and cry, to accept that emotion and plan our next actions? What if we embraced our anger and resentment and expressed it in a healthy manner? Everything you think, and everything you feel, is telling you something -- it's guiding you down a path. “Be the silent watcher of your thoughts and behavior; you are beneath the thinker, you are the stillness of breath and the mental noise. You are love and joy beneath the pain.”
When you’re suppressing your emotions, you're suppressing yourself. Allow yourself to be you; accept your thoughts and emotions and your true self will shine through.
Next time you're feeling any emotion, take a deep breath and allow it to exist within you. Ask yourself why you're feeling that way; ask why you care so deeply; ask what your next action should be. Allow your emotions to serve their purpose.
