“Don’t let how you feel devour you,” Corey Talbott. In other words, do not sink into how we feel.  When we let the feelings take over, we sink into an unhelpful, unproductive pattern that cycles downward. The feelings become all consuming and devour us.  I had this tragic figure, Cinderella complex, where I thought if I were sad enough or if there was enough wrong in my life, someone would come and rescue me and make me see my worth.  I’ve found no one to participate in that story and be the savior.  I’ve learned that sometimes we find connection to salvation through ourselves and listening to what we are told, through picking up the mantle of who we are rather than fighting it.  Rather than pretend to be something we are not.  When we are tested, we are on the right path and it is us to realize that some tests are about showing us we are ready to let go of some old thoughts and habits.  We are our own salvation and we don’t need anyone or anything else beyond our KNOWING to get us through.  Sometimes we need to SNAP up and get ourselves off the floor.  We may want to wallow in self-pity—we all have moments—but we can’t allow that to take over.  Acknowledge the feeling and understand what we’re feeling but then get out of our thoughts and feelings and KNOW.    

The question really becomes why not me?  If we are meant to learn the lesson then why wouldn’t we be given the experience to have and then learn the lesson?  When we ask for help and some sort of salvation, it isn’t like the issues are simply removed.  What really happens is we are given the lesson to work through it—whatever “it” is.  Know when it’s time to move on versus wallow in the feelings and emotions—that is when we know we passed the test—when we can finally move forward and not react how we used to.  We need to be proud of the wins—and getting through the low is absolutely a win.  We must also remember that there will always be other lessons.  Once we understand their purpose as teachers, we approach them and welcome them with grace and understanding that it is for us.  For our faith, for our space, and to bring out the best in ourselves that we can share with the world.  Until we learn to manage that, we won’t know how to navigate difficult or challenging situations and we are at the whim of a temporary feeling.  The world is shifting right now and emotion is high—understandably so, to be honest.  The very foundation of what we know is being rocked for the sake of power.  But we have an opportunity to take the energy of that emotion and shift it into something good if we don’t let it consume us.

And that is probably the most important point in this: how do we translate what we feel into purposeful action?  I will admit that we can’t always control how we feel.  Things creep up on us and seemingly come out of nowhere and we get triggered and react how we wouldn’t want to.  The key there is to regroup, reset, and refocus.  When we do that we can redirect that energy to something more productive.  We take our power back.  Don’t make the mistake of thinking that things we do are irreparable—I believe that’s ego talking (and for someone who has admitted ego issues—between self-worth and self-expression that is– that’s a true statement).  Never let emotion remove who we are, remove our humanity because even if people do wrong by us, there was something in them that felt they were doing right by them.  Selfish and crappy? ABSOLUTELY.  Anything to do with us? ABSOLUTELY NOT.  So why would we let that emotion dictate our next move or who we are?  Choose to snap up and move on.  We can only learn the lesson if we decide to move forward with purpose.  Don’t wallow or let something we have a choice over consume us until we lose sight of who we are.  We are here for a purpose and it isn’t up to us to decide who is worthy of anything.  It is our job to maintain our power and share our gifts.