Get Rid of Your Emotional Baggage . . .
Blog Session
June 2017
If you are ready to tackle the issue of emotional baggage, then you are in the right place. Our Blog Session today will dive into the emotional baggage that many of us, and the people we know carry around with us daily. It is time to identify it, Journal about it, and get rid of it.
If you are new to our Blog Sessions, then you will want to get a Journal so that you may take notes, and also journal your thoughts and feelings as we go through our Blog Sessions. You will find Journaling to be a very valuable and helpful practice. So at this point, grab your Journal, Diary, or Notebook so that you may begin to take notes...
Journal time!
The older we get, the worse it gets if we don't recognize that we have emotional baggage holding us back, and holding us down.
Make a note in your Journal that Emotional Baggage consist of unresolved issues of an emotional nature that oftentimes can be detrimental to your well-being.
Emotional baggage comes in a variety of different forms. One of the main sources of baggage is "Rejection".
- Rejection actually activates the same pathways in your brain as physical pain, which is one reason why it hurts so much. The feeling of rejection toys with your innate need to belong, and for some people, it is so painful and distressing that it interferes with your ability to think, recall memories and make decisions. The sooner you let go of painful rejections, the better off your mental health will be.
One of the main problems with carrying baggage around, other than the fact that it weighs you down and gets in the way of your progress, is that people tend to "ruminate" over their baggage.
- When you ruminate, or brood, over a past hurt, the memories you replay in your mind only become increasingly distressing and cause more anger — without providing any new insights. In other words, while reflecting on a painful event can help you to reach an understanding or closure about it, ruminating simply increases your stress levels.
The other big bag that people tend to carry around is "blame". When things go wrong in your life, blaming others is the easy way to turn the finger from pointing at yourself to someone else. While it may make you feel better for a moment, it is not wise to hold on to such a bad habit. It is not anyone else's fault for your problems, failures, short-comings, or insecurities. And, even if it were someone else's fault, what good will carrying the baggage of blame around do for you?
Keep this in mind: You are not helpless, nor hopeless.
- If you allow yourself to feel "helpless" after a failure, or "blame" it on someone else, or your lack of ability or bad luck, it's likely to lower your self-esteem. Blaming a failure on specific factors within your control, such as planning and execution, is likely to be less damaging, but even better is focusing on ways you can improve and be better informed so you can succeed next time.
What about the real heavy luggage that we carry around called, "guilt". Do you find yourself carrying around guilt?
- Guilt can be beneficial in that it can stop you from doing something that may harm another person (making it a strong "relationship protector"). But guilt that lingers can impair your ability to focus and enjoy life. If you still feel guilty after apologizing for a wrongdoing, be sure you have expressed empathy toward them, which will likely lead to forgiveness.
Do you have a problem forgiving others? Is it something that you struggle with, and you know it is weighing you down? Are you able to have compassion or empathy for others? Are you so self-centered that you cannot put yourself in another person's shoes? Do you find it hard to believe that other people have feelings just like you do? Have you ever taken the time to discuss an issue that has been weighing you down with the very person who is connected to that issue? Do you enjoy playing the martyr? Could your thinking process be totally off track and you have been told this many times, but you insist on always being right? Is it possible that the person responsible for your problems and issues is YOU?
Many times, our thoughts and judgments are the source of our emotional pain.
The human mind, inherently impatient, triggers emotional reactions when our ideas about how things should be collide with how things are. We sometimes torment ourselves about choices we’ve made, words we’ve spoken, and the path or paths not taken. Or we dwell on the future, postponing our happiness with thoughts about what is missing or wrong in the present moment.
We must understand clearly that the mind has a lifetime of conditioned beliefs and expectations through which it filters all perceptions. While the body spontaneously lets go of pain the moment the underlying cause is healed, the mind has a mysterious instinct for holding on. Through the mind, we create a prison of suffering and then forget that we are the architect and that we ourselves hold the key that will set us free.
Even after years of emotional healing work, we all sometimes make the mistake of believing that something “out there” makes us angry, depressed, anxious, or afraid. In reality, outside events are only triggers. The cause of every emotion is within. By uncovering the false perceptions that cause us to cling to pain, we can open to a deep experience of peace.
In our next Blog Session, we will discuss ways in which you may find your way back to your core of balance, peace, and well-being. Our main objective is to get rid of the baggage...
Friends ~ See you in our next Blog Session!
until then . . .
Peace, Love & Light,
René
© Copyright - René Allen - JUNE 2017 - All Rights Reserved
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