Politics is a loaded topic for most because there are so many emotions behind what people think and believe. Yes your thought/beliefs are the primary source for your feelings. I work with people in addiction recovery and one of my basics for their treatment is to help them realize the connection between thoughts/ beliefs/self-talk and the emotions they feel. The more they understand that, the more we understand that, the better chance they have and the better chance the world has.
Let me say more about the place of emotions both personally and it politics in general. First the feelings we have tend to have a large influence on us, whether we acknowledge them or not. Acknowledge feelings tend to dissipate on their own. Suppressed emotions tend to gather in the body as tension. If we allow ourselves to fully experience our full range of emotions than we tend to find life to be more alive and enjoyable. If we tend to deny how we feel and sit on our emotions than we tend to feel uneasy and not so pleased with life.
On the political level emotions originate most powerfully from rigidly held beliefs. If others question our beliefs we can can react strongly if we tend to be constricted in our thinking. People that are damn sure they know what is right for this country often really have no helpful ideas become of a set of very limiting beliefs. Those that are conservative by nature tend to hold on to old ideas and the past. Those that feel unable to question authority are often driven by fear. The idea of blind allegiance has always cause problems in the history of humankind. We need thinking, open-minded, understanding people involved not rigid fear-driven idealists who have no ability to listen or truly communicate.
I am of the progressive, open-minded point of view not because I think it is right but because it is the only way for a democracy to work successfully. What’s needed is transparency, dialogue, conversations, new ideas, an expansive points of view and an ability to see the bigger picture both now and for the future.
The emotions of fear, needing to be in control, the drive of greed, and the need to avoid change are all on the limited end of the spectrum. The emotions of compassion, love, kindness, consideration, openness, are all on the more expansive end of the spectrum. I invite you to feel what you feel, be open to all points of view, keep compassion as your goal and feel the innate joy in you that wants to be expressed when you allow yourself to be free to feel.
Let me say more about the place of emotions both personally and it politics in general. First the feelings we have tend to have a large influence on us, whether we acknowledge them or not. Acknowledge feelings tend to dissipate on their own. Suppressed emotions tend to gather in the body as tension. If we allow ourselves to fully experience our full range of emotions than we tend to find life to be more alive and enjoyable. If we tend to deny how we feel and sit on our emotions than we tend to feel uneasy and not so pleased with life.
On the political level emotions originate most powerfully from rigidly held beliefs. If others question our beliefs we can can react strongly if we tend to be constricted in our thinking. People that are damn sure they know what is right for this country often really have no helpful ideas become of a set of very limiting beliefs. Those that are conservative by nature tend to hold on to old ideas and the past. Those that feel unable to question authority are often driven by fear. The idea of blind allegiance has always cause problems in the history of humankind. We need thinking, open-minded, understanding people involved not rigid fear-driven idealists who have no ability to listen or truly communicate.
I am of the progressive, open-minded point of view not because I think it is right but because it is the only way for a democracy to work successfully. What’s needed is transparency, dialogue, conversations, new ideas, an expansive points of view and an ability to see the bigger picture both now and for the future.
The emotions of fear, needing to be in control, the drive of greed, and the need to avoid change are all on the limited end of the spectrum. The emotions of compassion, love, kindness, consideration, openness, are all on the more expansive end of the spectrum. I invite you to feel what you feel, be open to all points of view, keep compassion as your goal and feel the innate joy in you that wants to be expressed when you allow yourself to be free to feel.