The movie Inside Out reminds us that we need all our emotions to live life to its fullest.
"Without Sadness, we cannot feel Joy."
The past few years have allowed me to get back in touch with all of my emotions, and yet I have stubbornly still pushed one away.
My creative side - expressed as Bing Bong? Nope, he is always nearby. I am a creative soul. I create in my flower garden, in my kitchen and in my classroom Really, in everything I do my creative juices can't help but ooze out.
Fear - the nagging part of me that gets scared sometimes about what unknown is coming next? Nope. I do have fears, but I have learned that when I am fearful, that is a part of my subconscious telling me something is not right. I do not mind fear. I am learning to trust my instincts. I am a smart person who can rationalize, and work through her fears.
Disgust - the part of my being that realized that this DID happen to her even when she thought it couldn't? Nope. I see I am not special when it comes to being given a pass in the Universe. I'm good with disgust. The experience of being disgusted, means I can now look at things from a different perspective, and be thankful for what is no longer in my life.
Sadness - who shows herself as loneliness, tears, and or heavy heart? I know this emotion intimately. Reminding myself of the lesson in Inside Out, I feel I will have deeper Joy, due to all I have experienced. My life will be richer because of my sorrows. Still, I visit sadness more than I like, and she can wear me out! I really am ready for her to take a long, extended vacation.
Joy - Personally, I think I rock Joy. She's the emotion I do best, and most often. I would say she has always been my main emotion. I know I've said it before, but when my dad died I realized that life was short, and 21 years later when my mom died, I realized it was one thing to say life is short and another to start living like it is. I enjoy finding the positive in all that surrounds me.
Anger - He is the emotion I have struggled to embrace. I just don't do anger. I don't feel like I was ever really allowed to do anger either. If I got upset, it was pointed that I was wrong to feel the way I did. Maybe when my dad died, it colored my thought process. So, I have been trying to work through admitting my anger and moving forward in my life. I am quick to acknowledge when I am disappointed, but I won't say when I am angry.
If I am honest, I AM angry. I was supposed to have a partner with whom I could grow old, and spend the golden years...wasn't that what we were working towards? I am pissed that I do not have someone I can travel with to the wonders I hoped we'd see. I no longer have a companion with whom to attend birthday celebrations, weddings, graduations, galas, etc. I no longer have someone who can help manage the house and it's list of chores. I no longer have someone I can tell my secrets: the good, the bad and the ugly. I lost the person who loved my quirkiness. I no longer have someone to share my evenings with, to go out and see that new movie with, no one to take me out to dinner, and no one to share my bed and cuddle with on cold, stormy nights. In short, I am angry that I lost my best friend. Can I find someone new? Possibly. Probably. But I feel cheated. He knew my faults and I knew his. And I thought we loved one another despite it all. Thick and thin. I thought we were in it for the long haul. 'Til death do us part. Through my anger though, I realize he is no longer the best friend I want.
However, lately I've been pissed that my partner, who was supposed to be with me when our children gave us grandchildren to love, is no longer there. That might be my biggest hurt I am working through right now. I went to breakfast with a friend whose oldest child recently had her first baby; the first grandchild. I'm not sure I kept my envy at bay. I am so happy for my friend, that she is now able to provide child care for her grand baby. But I hurt. And it's a deep hurt. No matter what, I will not, ever, be able to offer that to my children. Never. I suppose it's good thing that my children are not at a point where they are ready to have children of their own. When they do, I'll host sleep overs, and 'summer' camp with grandma. But I cannot dream to help my children as my friend is able to help her child. As I said, it's a deep hurt.
So, I am angry. My anger gets masked by sadness, and then my fears rise up, and then I have a lack of confidence. It is a vicious cycle. I've read that a grieving person needs to go through all five stages of grief, in their own order, in their own time frame, and sometimes over, and over, and over again until they can finally let go. In my divorce support group, I was told you need to give yourself one year of grieving for every five you were married.
When I think like that, my fears rise. I'm not getting any younger you know. I am learning that one cannot rush what the universe has in store for her. So right now, I need to just be kind and understanding to myself. I need to give myself time. I need to focus on what I have.
I am putting my angers here so I can let them go. I am disappointed, but I really want to believe that the Universe has something even better in store for me.
I am healing. I no longer feel as fearful, as I did two years ago. I am not as disgusted, as I once was. My sad times do not last as long as they did, and my joy does seem to be growing. So anger, it's time for you to be felt, it's time for you to be acknowledged, and it's time for you to be turned loose.
~Lisa Kroll, roller coaster rider, Universe believer, and creative soul who still wears a smile, despite what life throws her way...while continuing to eat, pray and love.
 |
| Can you identify your emotions? |
No comments:
Post a Comment