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Friday's Inspiration Weekly
The Power of Feelings
 
The greatest human quest is to know what one must do in order to become a human being.
I hold my face in my two hands.
No, I am not crying.
I hold my face in my two hands,
to keep my loneliness warm
two hands protecting,
two hands nourishing,
two hands preventing
my soul from leaving me in anger.
One of the most difficult challenges I have ever faced is to "feel my feelings."
Now that the numbness is gone, what should I do with or about my feelings?

Spotlight: Reality Shifts - You've Got The Keys by Cynthia Sue Larson

Everything in this universe is encoded with feelings. We open doors to new realities with each emotional key we select.

You can gain a sense of how you open doors to new realities with your feelings, by noticing how your memories are encoded in emotions. See if you can recall complete memories of an event (such as a surprise birthday party) without being in the same emotional state you were in when the events took place. For example, you will probably find you cannot clearly remember what happened at your surprise birthday party unless you first recall the intense feelings of shock and surprise you felt that day.

Tori Amos' song Cornflake Girl includes in the chorus the haunting lyrics, "Rabbit... where'd you put the keys, girl?"  I love that song, because it reminds me to ask myself what keys I've lost track of in my life. Most of us intuitively know that there is something wonderful waiting for us, if only we could remember what it is and where we put it. We miss feeling completely alive and totally blessed with love. We yearn to feel connected, and to know that we truly matter. These emotional keys open the doors to bringing Heaven to Earth.

You've probably seen many people who glumly sulk their way through life, or who complain about all the things that are going wrong around them. You've probably also seen people who somehow keep a joyous attitude of love and gratitude no matter what may be happening in their lives. Even a man who has been exiled from his country and people, like the Dalai Lama, can find joy in every moment.

We shine more brightly and things go our way as reality shifts around us whenever we are in a state of loving ecstasy. Even so, we may still often rely on outside influences to bring us to that state of ecstasy, because we don't remember how to achieve this blissed-out emotional state on our own.

I have enjoyed the best days by waking and choosing my attitude for that day.... and then letting the day unfold. I open the day with the key in my heart - the love that I feel. Specifically, I wake up feeling blessed - worthy of adoration, reverence, and divinely or supremely favored. A blissfully happy and contented feeling accompanies this sense of being blessed, and in my meditation I bask in this feeling of Love for as long as I can.

Sometimes people are slow to realize the power of feelings, and can mistakenly attribute their emotions to what's happening to them. "I'm having a bad day", someone might say, indicating how obviously the bad day is giving them permission to whine and complain... and simply feel awful.

Consider how this universe would behave if instead of being passive receivers we were active observers who chose how our days unfolded by opening the day with the emotional key required to unlock the best possible day? Appreciation, gratitude, thankfulness and feeling blessed with love are emotions that allow us to live our most enjoyable days. We can feel loved by choice... entraining our hearts with the universal probabilities of a loving day.. the most loving day... thereby opening the door to that reality.

This idea about our emotional attitude being the key to life isn't just a nice theory, it's something you can try out for yourself. All you need for this experiment is the set of emotional keys you already possess... your own memory of feelings. You can start each day with a meditation of love and feeling blessed, and see for yourself whether your days proceed any differently. Keep a journal, to record your observations, and then start each day by hugging and holding yourself with love. At every opportunity throughout the day, say, "How good can life get?" and feel the deepest feelings of love and appreciation you are capable of. You are summoning the best possible experiences to you by doing this, provided you counter any unconscious negative self-talk that bubbles up.

I have been doing this exercise for the past week more intensely than ever before, and the number of things to be grateful for seems to multiply exponentially as I continue my morning meditations of love! I find parking spots where and when I need them, meet long-lost friends unexpectedly, get wonderful news in the mail, and am surprised to find things I've long wished for coming into my life as if by magic. It's simply awesome!

But don't take my word for it. Try this yourself at home!

About the author:

Cynthia Sue Larson, this week's contributing author 
Cynthia Sue Larson holds a bachelor's degree in physics from UC Berkeley (1982), earned in conjunction with her pursuit of a more complete understanding of reality. Following completion of her MBA degree in 1984, she worked as a project manager at Citibank for seven years at the California Data Center. She is the author of the forthcoming book, Reality Shifts: When Consciousness Changes the Physical World. Cynthia currently writes articles for Magical Blend and Parabola magazines, and Enlightenment.com, Conscious Creation Journal, and Themestream on the Internet about reality shifts. She teaches reality shifting workshops and has been interviewed by Elliot Stein for his Stein On-line talk show, and Charles Grotsky on the Technology Trends television show. Cynthia's passion is helping people realize how we all create reality, and that we can consciously improve our lives and the world around us to make our favorite dreams come true. Check out Cynthia's website at www.realityshifters.com, where you can subscribe to her fascinating RealityShifters News monthly ezine.

From the Feedback Button

Just some good news from a friend this week. I want to share the joy that A.N. feels in just being alive!

"As far as my life is going... my reconstruction is now complete - yea!!! (I had my last operation a few months ago.) I don't know how many it was exactly - I stopped counting after 9! But I am testing "cancer free" and it's now been 5 years since my 2nd diagnosis of breast cancer. (It's time for a big party!) I'm growing my hair out to donate to "Locks for Love", an organization which accepts hair to make wigs for cancer patients. It's pretty long, but my hair stylist says I still have another year to go to reach the 10" minimum."

This wonderful person is so optimistic that she is even making plans for her wedding.

Click to send your Let me know what you think of this issue of Fridays Inspiration to me right now!


Feature: Feelings - Best Offense is Good Defense

Defense mechanisms allow negative feelings to be lessened without an alteration of the situation that is producing them, often by distorting the reality of that situation in some way. Defense mechanisms include denial, repression, suppression, projection, displacement, reaction formation, regression, fixation, identification, introjection, rationalization, isolation, sublimation, compensation, and humor. I think I have used most of these in my life, sad to say.

Using denial is one way of coping with the relative powerlessness of childhood, where young children sometimes act as if they can change reality by refusing to acknowledge it, thereby ascribing magical powers to their thoughts and wishes. In repression, painful feelings are initially conscious and then forgotten. A third defense mechanism, related to denial and repression, is suppression, by which unpleasant feelings are suppressed through a conscious decision not to think about them.

Displacement is a defense by which an impulse perceived as dangerous is displaced, either through redirection toward a different object, or replacement by another impulse. Reaction formation, another defense mechanism, involves behavior that is diametrically opposed to the impulses or feelings that one is repressing.

Identification, which is basic to human development and an essential part of the learning process, can also serve as a defense mechanism. Taking on the characteristics of someone else can enable a person to engage in impulses or behavior that she sees as forbidden to her but acceptable for the person with whom she is identifying.

Like rationalization, isolation is a rather complicated defense. It involves compartmentalizing one's experience so that an event becomes separated from the feelings that accompanied it, allowing it to be consciously available without the threat of painful feelings.

Sublimation, one of the healthiest defense mechanisms, involves rechanneling the energy connected with an unacceptable impulse into one that is more socially acceptable.

 Utilizing some form of anesthesia, such as alcohol, food, drugs or sex to relieve the burden of ill feelings, guilt or shame, only operates as a "work-around," rather than dealing directly with feelings. Using substances or behavior to deny, rationalize or otherwise ignore feelings is another form of "stuffing," and I have done my share of stuffing my feelings, too. All of this makes for a good defense, and some methods are obviously better than others, speaking in relative terms, of course.

So, what about a good offense for dealing with difficult feelings? Who says I have to do anything about my feelings? No one ever told my I had to do anything about my feelings, as I recall. After all, feelings are only emotional energy, and it is important not to block the flow of energy in my life, to be sure. But, there is something positive that I can do about feelings. It is most important to be able to discharge that energy!

How? By not trying to control the energy of my feelings, and by not letting that energy control me. Feelings are called feelings because they want to be felt. Consciously. Fully. Responsibly? Yes, even that is possible. It becomes possible when I take responsibility for the way I choose to express my feelings. I am also responsible for letting them go, and releasing that emotional energy into the Universe.

A good defense and the best offense, when it comes to my feelings, is to simply feel them and move on. Soon enough, I will know what to do, what lesson is being taught me. If I listen to my heart, without the cloudiness that "stuffing" my feelings leaves within me, I can know what action is right for me.

I am connected to myself, and to all around me. It is vital that I be absolutely clear about what I am really feeling, and I should ask myself what I am feeling as often as is necessary to remain clearly connected to myself and all that is in my world.

Then, just take the time to feel and release the emotion, thought or belief.

My mug
  • Michael Rawls, Friday's Inspiration © 2003

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