Ann

You are reading from the book The Language of Letting Go

Leaving Room for Feelings

We need to allow enough room for others and ourselves to have and work through our feelings.

We are people, not robots. An important part of us - who we are, how we grow, how we live - is connected to our emotional center. We have feelings, sometimes - difficult ones, sometimes disruptive ones, and sometimes explosive ones that need to be worked through.

By facing and working through these feelings we and others grow. In relationships, whether it is a love relationship, a friendship, a family relationship, or a close business relationship, people need room to have and work through their feelings.

Some call it "going through the process."

It is unreasonable to expect ourselves or others to not need time and room to work through feelings. We will be setting ourselves and our relationships up for failure if we do not allow this time and room in our life.

We need time to work through feelings. We need the space and permission to work through these feelings in the awkward, uncomfortable, sometimes messy way that people work through feelings.

This is life. This is growth. This is okay.

We can allow room for feelings. We can let people have time and permission to go through their feelings. We do not have to keep others or ourselves under such a tight rein. While we work through our feelings we do not have to expend unnecessary energy reacting to each feeling others or we have. We don't have to take all our feelings, and others' feelings, so seriously while others or we are in the process of working through them.

Let the feelings flow and trust where the flow is taking you.

I can set reasonable boundaries for behavior, and still leave room for a range of emotions.

From The Language of Letting Go by Melody Beattie ©1990, Hazelden Foundation.

Ann

Usually my feelings are my spirit's way of telling me what I need to do. It's like pain tells me when there is something wrong with my body.

If I trust my feelings, take time to examine them and decide where they come from, and then take whatever action I need to feel peace and calm.

Good feelings tell me all is well, and I need to notice those too, and decide what I am doing right in my life to allow me to feel the positive energy of good feelings.

I trust my feelings today, I let them guide me and honor my spirit by taking good care of myself.

Hugs

hope213

in the past year i have learned to feel my feeings. i have always been the type to try to cover everything thing up. when things were really bad i tried to "look" normal so people would not ask me questions. today i have learned to feel my feelings & walk thru them & to let it go. this is a much healthier way of living.S.R. has taught me this. thank you.

caileesnana

There was a time, sometimes still is, when I don't want to feel. It hurts too bad. Then I make myself see the beauty in something or my granddaughters sweet face and remember what I should be truly grateful for, then I can work through the not-so-good feelings. It sucks, but this is my life!

CatsPajamas

I grew up in a home where there were "good" feelings and "bad" feelings. Anger & frustration were definitely "bad" feelings. I remember being told many times that I really didn't feel that way, or that I shouldn't feel that way.

I started with 4 feelings - mad, sad, glad, and afraid. Discovering the depth and breadth of my feelings has been a healing process for me. It's been a really great adventure to learn and identify what I am feeling, and then to be able to sit with my feelings and work thru them.

Thanks Ann.

Hugs
Cats