Building walls

There are times when emotional pain feels like it is almost too much to bear. Anger, disappointment, or grief can immobilize you. You can make choices as to what you will do with these feelings. You can choose to ignore their presence and bury them somewhere within your body. Eventually they will make themselves known in your quality of life. You may express them as outbursts of emotions that can damage you and those around you. You may choose to protect yourself from future emotional pain by building a thick wall around your heart. But remember that walls keep you trapped within as well as fending off what is outside of you. Another choice is to allow yourself to feel the emotions knowing that they are an immediate response to the situation at hand. They capture your attention and ask for recognition. When you can stop to identify the emotion, you can take the necessary healthy action to address it. Then you will see how it passes from you unless you consciously choose to hold onto it as a resentment. Resentments are the bricks of the walls we build around us. Your emotions are powerful only to the extent that you empower them. Ask yourself who is in charge, you or your emotions? They are the gifts we are given as part of being human. Learn to channel the information you receive from them in healthy ways. Life without walls is deeply fulfilling. What are you doing to take down your walls today?