Nothing is permanent in life. Yet, we assign permanency to many situations, like having good health, or being with one partner in a long-term romantic union. When these things diminish or go away, we find ourselves caught in a quagmire of negative emotions.
Our ego drives our fear of change with its desires for comfort and predictability. When the pages of our life turn to new conditions, fear of the unknown can send us spiraling into depression. I suffered from depression for three years. My own efforts to avoid my inner battle prolonged my depression. I had built a life dependent on the approval of others and had reached a point where I had lost true myself. Rather than do the internal work I needed, I distracted myself chasing after other titles and trophies. Eventually, nothing helped, no matter the accomplishment, it failed to bring me inner peace. Finally, I had no choice but to confront my emptiness. This process changed the course of my life forever.
Emotions are not a state of being
Emotions too are temporary. while it is easy to see feelings as a permanent state of being, they are not, be they positive or negative ones. We all know that joy and other pleasurable emotions seem to run their course rapidly, while sadness, disappointment and depression linger seemingly forever.
The reason negative feelings seem to last longer is that they demand changes we don’t want or fear making. This is why these emotions become warnings or end up urging you to make changes like quitting a stale job where you are no longer growing or ending an abusive relationship. Any of these changes will make us fear that our Higher Self is asking us to jump from a high and dangerous cliff.
Trust yourself
You possess the ability to handle any challenge life brings you. it may not be pleasurable making unwanted changes, but change is the most predictable part of life. If you are like me, when something feels good and brings you comfort, you want to hang on to it, but doing so eventually goes counter to your authentic self’s desire to grow.
Negative emotions come when we are trying to hang on to things we have outgrown or no longer serve us. The reason these emotions are painful is to break your acceptance of a mediocre and stale life and motivate you to do the work needed to change. Negative emotions are for your benefit. Your Higher Self means for these warnings to help you. While it is difficult to be in the grasp of difficult emotions, you will eventually recognize it is time for you to do some work. You may need help from a life coach or counselor to help you identify how to move forward, but have confidence that as you brave on to make necessary life changes, the Universe will conspire with you.
Think back some of the difficult times you have overcome. Were you not shaped by the experience? yes, you were. Not only were you shaped by them, you learned how to persevere. These times now are not different, you will learn new lessons and you will find the inner strength to overcome. More importantly, you will discover that the dangerous cliff you believed your Higher Self was asking you to jump was nothing more than a one-inch ledge.
Remember, paying gratitude for your life forward will reward you with much joy and contentment.
Photo by delfi de la Rua on Unsplash
