“When you’re able to identify, feel, and express your feelings you can make the appropriate moves, changes, and decisions that will enable you to experience and enjoy your life to the fullest.”~Dr. Monica Lisa Schultz
As long as we are living we will have experiences and experiences produce thoughts, emotions, and feelings. If we have a better understanding of these things we are more likely to have a prosperous life. Prosperity is not only connected to riches but it means enjoying vigorous and healthy growth. In order to completely prosper we need vigorous and healthy growth in our body, soul, and spirit. These are the parts of us that respond to our experiences. When we look closer at what is happening within our body and soul it will help us to have a better understanding of our thoughts, emotions, and feelings.
Our thoughts are the result of spontaneous reflections, mental pictures, and ideas that create a conclusion about ourselves, others, and the world. We have thoughts about so many things and they can surface automatically. Our thoughts are what make us who we are. Our emotions are chemicals released in response to an experience that we are having through our five senses. Emotions are our mental reactions usually accompanied with thoughts and reactions within our body. These thoughts and reactions create feelings. Feelings are the sensations that we have within our body. Feelings are also perceptions or inner knowings.
Emotions and feelings are sometimes used interchangeably. Emotions are universal, we all experience them. The feelings we have due to emotions are individual experiences, and we all interpret them differently. No matter the experience, our emotions and feelings about it are valid. This is why it is important to acknowledge them, label them and give them healthy and safe expressions. The work of self-care and any form of psycho-therapy is not to make you stop having emotions or feelings but to help you understand them so you can choose your response to them.
When we take the time to process our thoughts, emotions, and feelings, through the fruit of the spirit which are love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23) it will make it easier for us to navigate our responses. Over the next few weeks we will be exploring five different emotions to gain a better understanding of them so we can begin to choose how we respond to them instead of reacting and allowing these emotional responses to have full control over our actions. We will be exploring: grief, rejection, betrayal, shame, and forgiveness.
In closing I will define these and then stay tuned for the blog on each.
Grief- the emotional, mental, physical, and spiritual response to a significant loss.
Rejection- the experience of being excluded, dismissed, undesired or unchosen, denied or turned away or turned away from.
Betrayal- a violation of trust or confidence, disappointing a person’s hope or expectations, to lead astray, to fail or desert, to reveal intentionally or unintentionally, and to be disloyal
Shame- to feel embarrassed, humiliated, or like you are or have done something wrong that in turn makes you as a being wrong or immoral, a mixture of regret, self-hate, and dishonor
Forgiveness- set free, a letting go of intense emotions from a wrong doing, release of resentment, vengeance, and giving others the responsibility for your emotions.
Journaling Prompts:
- How comfortable are you with your thoughts, emotions, and feelings
- Are you comfortable with allowing others to see or know what you are thinking or feeling? Why or why not?
- What does this thought, emotion or feeling reveal to you about you?
- What has been your experience with grief, rejection, betrayal, shame or forgiveness?
- What is your understanding of the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23)?
- What is one way you can begin to practice the actions or mindset of the fruit of the Spirit toward yourself?
copyright © 2024. All rights reserved.
Recent Comments