Friday is my favorite work day because the weekend is just hours away and it seems in general a more relaxed day. This Friday I need to catch up on some stuff as the month ends. The 4th is not the far away. Why does it seem that the summer goes by so fast?
We are rivers of feelings and most of the time we may be mostly unaware of all that is going on inside. Instead of noticing how alive we are emotionally, we often are bogged down in old thoughts that bang around in our head sometimes for years. The flow of feelings in us is always new because feelings can only be felt in the present moment. Everything in the present moment is fresh and alive.
Imagine what it would be like if we could sit along the banks of the flowing emotions and just watch what is going on inside. We can through the practice of mindfulness. Mindfulness is not just watching our thoughts. It is also being aware of our feelings. Our feelings are a feedback system that gives us moment-to- moment information about how we are doing. This instant information offers guidance to us about what we are doing that is working and what we are doing that is not ok. On course thoughts and actions make us feel energized and confident. Off course thoughts and actions fill us with discomfort and doubt.
Mindfulness allows us to watch objectively what is going on inside and not get swept down the stream of highly charged emotions. As we watch we transform what we feel because in the process of watching we find out that nothing stays the same. In one moment we may feel frustrated with oneself or another, then in the next moment anger arises because we don’t like being in this familiar place then, next comes curiosity because we see something about ourself, and in another moment or two there in a flash of awareness we may make us feel uplifted by our insight. This stream of feelings do represent who we are in the moment but there is no reason to get attached because they are always changing.
Feelings are a gift of being present and the more we feel what we feel the more we can experience genuine aliveness. There are no good or bad feelings, there is just aliveness that we flow with or get caught up in by not being mindful. Let the flow go and enjoy being alive.