Is Your Emotional Train on the Tracks?

       Everyone gets upset. Or angry. Or scared. Or frustrated. Or a thousand other yucky feelings.
Everyone. We all have feelings, ALL of the feelings. Feelings are simply part of the human condition.
There is no getting out of it.
But sometimes we allow our circumstances to create such feelings. Sometimes we even we know when
they are getting cued up. Sometimes we can even see the train on the tracks and here the “choo-choo”.
Yet we still let it happen. Sometimes we even egg it on. Why? Why do we do this?
Sometimes we do this so that we CAN feel yucky feelings. When circumstances “match” our
uncomfortable feelings, we often believe we are justified in the feelings. We also can then blame the
feelings on something or someone else. We often don’t want to be responsible for our own feelings.
But here’s the deal. Feelings are organic. They come at will. Sometimes they don’t make any sense and
it’s hard to puzzle out why we are feeling a certain way, especially if it seems that the situation doesn’t
match.
But sometimes the feelings are just waiting to come out. And we somehow are able to recognize this
subconsciously and we then might allow our circumstances, things that are actually within our control,
to play out. We then have our big, dramatic event which causes the emergence of whatever yucky
emotions are waiting to get dealt with. While we may feel better for a moment, we are often
disappointed with the outcome. The problem isn’t really solved. It’s just that we got some of the yuck
out. But the rest of the yuck is still there. And often we have done or said something that maybe we
wish we hadn’t.
So what would happen if instead of waiting for the emotional train to hit the tracks and start choo, choo,
chooing your way, you put the brakes on. You stop ignoring the circumstances that are about to cause
pain and chaos and you really look at what the feelings mean. And maybe even what you can do to help
calm them down before they reach a critical mass point.
Often, however, people do not like to admit that they actually do have some power and control over
their emotions once they are out. This most certainly does not apply to the pure, organic ones that just
come up. Nope, not those at all. We have NO control over those. However, we can learn and should
learn to manage them in a way that is respectful, graceful, and kind both to ourselves and to others.
We can also learn to recognize body signals that alert us to emotional stuff that’s brewing. Our bodies
and minds always want to be in a place of balance. And our bodies for sure alert us to stuff that
cooking. Yet we so very often ignore the signs.
Perhaps if we trust our bodies a bit more to take care of us and we pay attention to the messages that it
sends, we would live happier, healthier, more balanced lives. Isn’t that the goal