I've been rocked by the gamut of emotions in my life, feeling everything -- anger, despair, depression, anxiety, sadness, grief, frustration and in that world of extremes, I eventually found my way out through the willingness to see things differently, in which life took on a whole new light, creating peace within me.
Today I'm going to focus on the idea of this way out, the passage, that cleared the blocks to who I really was, my best self.
The predominant emotion I struggled with most of my life was anger. While mine wasn't suppressed, most do suppress it either because it's taboo, unfeminine or considered "bad," but this doesn't make it disappear; instead, it affects you in other ways like anxiety, fear and depression. You may be "too nice" but not assertive, also blocking that passionate, rebellious side of yours, and the anger becomes locked in.
We place judgment on ourselves rather than honoring all of our feelings. We are thinking about what we "should be" feeling when we aren't feeling happy or when anger or other emotions arise.
While these judgments come from a seemingly "good" place and we believe we need to be better, and something other than who we are now, this creates an inner struggle and will always leave us feeling like we failed at something, and never feeling like we are fully self-expressed. The shift begins when we release the strong-handed force of the way we deal with ourselves and accept that there is nothing we need to change about ourselves.
1. Awareness is the first step to clearing the blocks to who we really are because it doesn't try to change anything -- which actually changes everything because it sets us free. Identify the emotions, fears and judgments residing within your mind and body. Courageously looking at them will bring them out of the darkness into the light, where they lose much of their power over us.
2. Feel the energy in the judgments you place on yourself, the fears and the different emotions, letting all of it be present. We are not meant to reign in our emotions or suppress them; the only way to transcend them is to rise above them, not by fighting them, but by letting them be. Be the compassionate observer of the full extent of the emotion, remaining present, not letting yourself be drawn in by the emotion or by the judgment of the emotion, but instead softly watching it.
3. When you're ready, you will naturally be guided to the other side of the emotion, into the truth. From here, you will feel the release and your liberation from that particular fear block, illusion, barrier, emotional pattern. The truth shall set you free. And the truth is always love.
I invite you this week to listen to your body, going with the flow of what you need; maybe it's more rest, maybe it's more action but honoring what that looks like for you. Create space daily to release anything that is unprocessed either from the day, the week, a relationship, or even a childhood memory, allowing whatever needs to come up now to heal. You all inspire me so much with your courageous self-reflection and willingness to rise to great heights. Please share your experience in the comments below!
To learn more about clearing the blocks, download your free copy of The Happiness Blueprint!