“Just because we feel a certain way doesn’t make that feeling a fact. It only means we feel that way. We must learn to press past our feelings.” – Joyce Meyer
That’s it isn’t it? I had this idea that my “feelings” were the actuality of who I am. If I was angry then that anger represented who I am. I would say, (loudly) I’M ANGRY!
But the reality is the anger wasn’t “ME” at all. I wasn’t angry, I was experiencing anger. I could have said “I’m experiencing anger.” That statement, as a thought or spoken out loud, places anger in it’s proper place. Formulated this way it’s actually a step away from anger. It’s acknowledging that anger is a momentary feeling, it’s not who I am.
This position works really well for things like sadness and depression. Those are two states, that if absorbed, can become who we are instead of a temporary state. I cannot tell you how many times I said, “I’m depressed” in life. As though “I” exist as depression. Now I’m aware of transience and that sadness, depression, happiness, and all the emotions are never who I am, they come and go like most things in life. Unless I devise a way to hang onto them they fade. (If we become the depression it will require more than just a change of view, that will require attention with a support field. It’s why I encourage seeing we are not our feelings early before they get embedded as identity.)
Feelings, like thoughts, are no who I am. They, in a very substantial way, are not actually real. They only point to a small section of life where I am temporarily engaged. If I could become something permanent concerning feelings then I would announce, I”M HAPPY, and that would become my permanent world. But it doesn’t work that way.
So I am that feeling or I am experiencing that feeling.
It’s amazing what that shift in view can accomplish.
Take care of you and all you love,
Bryan Wagner
Valid points you shared, Bryan.
Just because we feel a certain way does not make us that way.
I learnt from this.
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This is a VERY helpful reminder, Bryan. Thank you!
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We are not our emotions. It’s a part of our experience. Thank you for this wisdom.❤️✌🏿
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