EMOTIONS | Your Power to Heal & Succeed?
Encountering a range of emotions is an intrinsic and inevitable part of being human, however much we may wish we could flick a switch and turn them off at times…
Everyday, we experience a spectrum of feelings, some comfortable and others less so. Unfortunately, many of us have been conditioned to have an unhealthy relationship with the more intense emotions, which is a core cause of much stress and struggle.
Raised by adults unwilling to experience the full array of their own emotions, they would resist witnessing us expressing our feelings so fully and freely. As children we may have been encouraged to tone down or turn away from the intense ones that were perceived to be problematic. Not only that, it is common for children to be taught different names for the different emotions, with some labels being wrong.
Based upon the misinformed assumption that some emotions are ‘positive’ and others ‘negative’, it is common to be conditioned to attempt to avoid the ‘bad’ ones at all cost. This conditioning has led to millions of us fearing certain emotions, habitually resisting and controlling them and engaged in a fruitless fight with their feelings.
Believe it or not, one of the most common emotions that countless people mislabel and struggle with is joy. Growing up it is common to mislabel joy for fear, angst or anxiety and end up suppressing its transformative powers. I appreciate this is a rather radical suggestion to make, but if you struggle with emotions that you believe to be fear or anxiety, I invite you to explore relating to this powerful energy in a new way.
Joy is the flow of inner-life-infused energy that exists within everyone, which naturally rises up to help us. Joy is a powerful energy that arises within us whenever we want to heal or change something. However, as we believe we are feeling ‘negative’ emotions, we usually shy away from the emotion and in turn, not utilize the energy to help us to bring about the healing and life success we want.
Suppressing emotions lowers your energy and your ability to enjoy the best life. The more emotions you feel the better as you need energy to heal, create and evolve. By letting go of the mind-made labels about emotional energies and letting this more intense emotions to be present within you with zero resistance, you can find that feelings you once knew as anxiety or fear have always been joy’s powerful presence.
Joy is beyond the temporary highs of happiness. Although we are taught we need things to make us happy, joy is beyond mind-based reasoning. In the pursuit of happiness by fixing, changing and improving circumstances, many miss a glorious gift in being born human, which is to experience joy for no reason. Joy is ever-present to those willing to wake up to its on- going presence.
I’m not claiming that all feelings of fear or anxiety are always joy. However, I am saying that you want to heal your relationship with the more intense emotions that you believe to be fear or anxiety. And if you play with this liberating possibility that you are actually feeling the positive and transformative power of joy, then you can benefit greatly from improving your relationship with the full spectrum of emotions.
Joy is the natural expression of life. It is the creative juice of the universe and if you use it rather than resist it, it can help you to heal your body and improve your life. Next time you feel an emotion that your mind wants to call ‘fear’ or ‘anxiety’ I invite you to see what happens if you welcome this potent force for good within you and let the energetic celebration of existence carry you on its wondrous wings.
