Let Loose and Love

After a week of having my kids home for summer break I am reminded of the range and freedom of emotion that children have. They cry, laugh, whine, and scream alternatively throughout the day - everyday - repeatedly. I'll admit that many days I feel the pain, glee, frustration, and anger that they feel but as an adult I've grown to control the outward expression of these emotions. Imagine if adults didn't develop that control--what a mess we'd all be!

For me, knowing that each experience I have is there to teach me something eases me from one challenging moment to the next. This is easy to do when the salsa spills on the carpet or I stub my toe on the kitchen table for the 100th time. I may have an immediate outburst, but am able to move on and maintain some sort of emotional equilibrium. But what about the really big wounds? Those damages that happen that don't cause us to yell out, but rather cause us to yell in. These are the hurts that really damage us. And it's not the action or event itself that can start the negative spiral, it's the way we internalize the pain. We hold on to it, bury it, maybe even forget about it on a conscious level. This "injury" becomes part of who we are. The negative currents affiliated with the feelings of hurt or betrayal or violation that we hold on to penetrate our cells and become part of our physical selves. Not only can it cause illness in our bodies, that energy also pulsates outward and attracts more of the same damaging energy right back to us. We all know someone who was in a bad relationship and continues, time after time, to chose other ill-fitted partners.

In a way, our kids' approach probably works better. They let it out and let it go. Our challenge as adults is to find a way to do that as well--in order to set ourselves free from that weight and that burden. The 4th chakra is the place where the emotional meets the spiritual, and that is where this work is done--in the heart. Compassion and forgiveness are the tools we use to release us from the negative spiral and lift us toward a more peaceful place. There is risk involved by becoming vulnerable and putting ourselves out there. It requires a level of maturity and, as I often discuss, self-love. Forgiveness is a gift to ourselves, not to our offenders. We release the power outside occurrences have over our well-being and give ourselves permission to heal, learn, and continue on wiser. And looking with compassion at the people we would otherwise judge gives us the wonderful opportunity to learn something about the world, about ourselves, and to experience deep gratitude for all that is good in our own lives.

Living in the role of a victim is no way to live. The word victim is defined as "a person who is deceived or cheated, as by his or her own emotions or ignorance, by the dishonesty of others, or by some impersonal agency." "...as by his or her own emotions or ignorance..." Open your heart. Take charge of your emotional well-being. Give yourself the gift of forgiveness. Look with compassion upon the world. Live out loud and let go. Risk. Give thanks. Laugh big. Cry hard. Feel what you need to feel and allow yourself to get through to the other side. This will make us whole, and this will heal our hurt, and this will offer us the opportunity for the greatest happiness.

peace, love, and more LOVE...