Daily Meditation

No One Can Do a Thing About Feelings-Daily Meditation 2.2.23

Today’s quotation:

No one can do a thing about feelings; they exist, and there’s no way to censor them.  We can reproach ourselves for some action, for a remark, but not for a feeling, quite simply because we have no control over it.-Milan Kundera

Daily Meditation:

I’ve spent a lot of time trying to come to grips with feelings.  I’ve felt wrong about some of them, even though I didn’t cause them myself.  I’ve tried to deny some of them, even though I had them.  I’ve come to a point, though, at which I realize that my feelings are what they are, and the only practical thing I can do about them is to accept them and deal with them on their terms.

That doesn’t mean that I’m helpless to do anything about them.  Once I accept them, I can either reject them or act based on what they tell me–I don’t have to let them control me.  If I feel helpless in a particular situation, I can accept that feeling and then react to it, hopefully rejecting it and moving on with my life.  These helpless feelings originate in my childhood and growing years and are usually pretty inaccurate.  If I try to deny them, though, I continue to act while feeling helpless, which seldom turns out well.

Not all feelings should be rejected, though.  If I say something too harsh to someone else, my feelings will let me know that I’ve done something wrong, and then it’s time to apologize so that I can rid myself of the bad feeling.  My feelings can be an excellent guide for me as long as I pay attention to them and try to understand the messages that they’re bringing to me.

As David says below, dealing with feelings on their terms is also essential.  I can’t rationalize, explain, or even understand them sometimes, but there they are!  And they bring a richness to life that we wouldn’t have otherwise, so it’s essential to accept them just as they are without trying to explain them away.  Only when we accept them thoroughly and allow them to affect us will our feelings turn into the guide through life they were meant to be.

Questions to consider No One Can Do:

Why do we often discount the importance of our feelings?

Are all of our feelings genuine, or do some arise from sources other than our genuine selves?

How often do you try to explain the significance or meaning of your feelings?  Are you successful in doing so?

For further thought on No One Can Do:

Feelings are not supposed to be logical.  Dangerous is the person who has rationalized his or her emotions.-David Borenstein

If you missed the last Daily Devotion, it is right here.

No One Can Do

BeckyWillis

BeckyWillis is a "glass is half full" type of person, so she decided that she would share that with others. After going on 15 years in the blogosphere she decided it was time to make a change and in doing so help uplift others. Her husband is her biggest cheerleader; you can visit his site at https://lifeasrog.com.

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