Our
feelings always matter. They are valid responses to life, which God gave to us.
Sometimes people disagree with or resent our feelings. They argue with us,
discount how we feel or belittle our sentiments.
However,
what really counts is that we endorse our own feelings. We honor and approve of
our self when we acknowledge and allow our self to fully feel our negative
emotions - although it is not healthy to vent our feelings on other people.
We
face, feel and accept them as our own. When we face our feelings squarely
without making excuses for them or attempting to change them, we learn so much
about who we are and what we need. This enables us to nurture our self and to
supply the insufficiencies in our life that are causing them.
Burying
our negative feelings accentuates rather than hides them, and guarantees that
they will add force and destruction to our current emotions. They are like a
caged, roaring bear attempting to rip our life apart in order to escape.
The
trauma, training and example that we experience throughout our lifetime, forms
the lens through which we view issues in our life. Our attitudes are shaped by both
the joy and the pain we feel, some of which we bury in our subconscious mind.
Our
attitudes are influenced by our circumstances - past, present and future. Then
attitudes condition our preferences, phobias and precedents by which we live.
Attitudes also flavor our thoughts, words, emotions, choices and actions.
We
may develop "stinking thinking" because our attitude spirals down
into resentment and bitterness. We may feel joy over an issue that we are
afraid to share with anyone else. God knows us better than we know our self,
and our intimacy with Him enables us to chat to Him about our feelings as we
feel them.
Prayer:
Father
God, remind us that our life is more fulfilled when we take an honest look at
our attitude. Then we can accept how we feel and move on from there. You enable
us to change our focus and our perception about life. We are no longer
concerned with this world and the aspects of it.
You
help us to develop a heavenly mindset that is rooted in our salvation and
grounded by our union with Christ in us and with us. We function on a level
path throughout life, once we bring our emotions to You, and allow You to heal
the negative ones and to accentuate our positive feelings.
Thought
for the Day:
When
we pray about our attitudes at home, church, workplace, social gatherings, etc;
God helps us to discover the root cause of our negative attitudes, and to
change our focus on the situation, which in turn changes our thoughts,
feelings, stress-level, habits, choices, decisions and actions.
