How do you relate to your emotions?

January 24, 2025
12:48 AM

One way I used to confuse knowledge with understanding was in my relationship with my emotions. I learned in my 20s that managing my emotions was about being with what I felt and allowing myself to experience the full range of my feelings. However, this only distanced me from the lessons, insights, and guidance my emotions were trying to share.

When I began feeling undesirable emotions, I meditated to avoid being with my feelings, believing that "negative" emotions make my life less beautiful. While meditation was an effective way to avoid getting entangled in what I felt in the moment, it never addressed the underlying reasons behind why I felt a specific way or how its insights could help me navigate my life.

Over the years, I've realized that even though we all experience the same emotions, we experience them for different reasons. As it's our responsibility to discover what's meaningful to ourselves, it's our responsibility to uncover the insights hidden in our emotions. After all, aren't our emotions rooted in the meaning we hold?

For me, this meant that the wisdom and counsel I often sought from others could be found in the reflection of my own emotions. Instead of asking others what values I should uphold and what to make of my situations, I took on the responsibility of discovering them within my own emotions.

In this realization, I found a new appreciation and understanding of emotions that I continue to hold today. I don't see them as something to work through because they ruin my experience of this present moment. Instead, I see them as what paints my experiences with color and allows me to experience how amazing, beautiful, and wonderful life can be.

If you struggle to manage some of your emotions, I hope this letter helps you look into them with a deeper purpose and consider their guidance in your life. Be not their prisoner nor their master, but their friend. As you help them find their expression, they will help you find yours.

2:10 AM
Chris X

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