LIFE IN YOUR FEELINGS Pt. 4

This will be our last segment on Life in Your Feelings for now.

Previously we discussed how Emotions can only impact your behavior if you CHOOSE to FEEL the Emotion that presented itself to you.

It’s important to remember that a Feeling is but one response to an Emotion. We get to choose HOW we respond, or IF we respond.

All feelings have one thing in common: they are energized by our reaction to an Emotion or suggestion. Feelings become more powerful when they get emotionalized.

We followed that up with the understanding that Feelings are expressions of Emotions done through WORDS!

We use WORDS to express how we Feel. So then how you feel is based upon what you’ve said. You feel bad, because you said, “I feel bad”.

There is power in our tongue! WORDS shape WORLDS.

We also learned that every major organ’s health can be affected by feelings. We can Feel ourselves healthy or sickly with our words. So watch your mouth!

Feel free to go back and review any previous “Truth” Thompson Truths — Benton T. Thompson III

Words are tools that can either build up or tear down just as easily, so choose your words carefully.

So how do we choose the words that we use to express how we feel?

We must assess the Feeling before we speak. Ask yourself what does this feeling want me to do? What action is it directing me to take?

We need to skillfully learn how to Feel a Feeling without acting on the impulse on an unexplored narrative. I haven’t thought about the What if?

Some of us are so afraid to feel for fear that the feeling will take us out.

Feelings were not designed to take us out, but rather to round us out.

Feelings help develop us into the whole persons we were created to be. Feeling is what makes us human. When we Repress, then we Regress!

Compassion comes by way of feeling. Mercy comes by way of feeling. As do the gifts of understanding, contrition, sympathy, and countless others.

Feelings are giftings from God, to separate us from all other species.

As children, we learned through feeling. Fire is hot, ice is cold, etc

Feeling is how we connect to our surroundings and those around us.

Many of the issues that we have in society today are related to an insensitivity to the feelings of others.

We do more damage by avoiding a Feeling rather than facing it. It’s unprocessed feelings that have made us afraid.

We stop learning when we stop feeling. We stop caring when we stop feeling. We stop sharing when we stop feeling. We stop living when we stop feeling. Only the dead don’t feel.

Some say women are too feely, and men feel nothing. Both are false.

Emotions want us to just react. Do something, anything, as long as it is erratic and impulsive. Curse, fight, blow up, go crazy. Just be reactive!

For goodness’ sake don’t stop and take inventory of what is being fed to you feel. Emotions win whenever we just react to them.

Emotions want us to Slap, God recommends we Selah. Selah means just take a moment to pause and process. Compose yourself, clear your mind

When was the last time you had a Selah moment? You can take one right now. Selah what you’ve heard thus far. Note how calm you feel.

You can Selah anytime you want or need to.

Feelings help us to discern what our environment is like. They help us to discern what behaviors/spirits are operating in our atmosphere.

But when we refuse to feel our environment, then we don’t know how to properly respond. And that lack of knowing how to respond to an emotion is what keeps us in a cycle of chaos and confusion.

We React to a situation as opposed to learning how to Respond to it. We miss out on an opportunity to develop coping skills.

We don’t mind the good feelings, but our biggest lessons come from the bad or “unpleasant” ones. Failure is the best teacher for Success.

Feeling the Feeling, helps us find our way. What way? The way through grief, through anger, through hurt, through disappointment, through life.

When we Feel our Feelings, we Procure our Power.

Whenever Jesus Felt his Feelings, it was always followed by Him Procuring his Power.

The shortest verse in the Bible is Jesus wept. Jesus wept for his friend who had died, after Feeling that Feeling he procured power to perform a miracle.

Again, he cried in the garden, he allowed himself to feel deep sorrow, then he procured the power to endure the crucifixion.

What power are we missing out on because we won’t feel?

So go ahead and Feel and then watch your Power come to you.

New learning takes place every time we deal with difficult feelings. Many of our threat-related beliefs are based on our past of avoidance.

What we avoid we can’t learn from. To move beyond our past, we must engage in new experiences that make us feel uncomfortable at first. But this is how we take those old, unhelpful beliefs to a better, healthier emotional level.

Feeling your Feelings can be an overwhelming undertaking. It’s a lot! You might need some help; I know I do. God led me to a great therapist. Thank you B.L.! Pray and allow God to lead you to your support help.

As you begin to regularly apply these learnings you will see yourself go from Post Traumatic Stress to Post Traumatic Growth. Feel Well!

This is a Thompson Truth