When others have emotionally hurt you, it’s easy to say, “They can’t treat me this way! I’ll make them pay!”
But somehow, these other people never seem to suffer very much. In your efforts to “show them,” you’re the one who overeats, gains weight, or feels depressed.
Bitterness and resentment allow negative feelings such as anger and frustration to keep eating at you. After a while, instead of resolving your emotions and moving past them, you carry them around like a huge rock on your shoulders.
To manage anger or emotional pain, learn how to set a time limit on your feelings, and then let them go.
Choose a difficult situation and write down or mentally list all your thoughts and emotions about it. Then either on a piece of paper or even mentally, place all of these thoughts into the palm of your hand.
Decide how long you want to hold on to these emotions. Pick a time limit, using anywhere from a few seconds to several hours.
Close your fist tightly around the feelings and hold them until the time is up. At the end of the time limit, open your hand and throw the paper away or mentally send those thoughts into outer space.
When you release a feeling, be sure you completely let go of it. Don’t pick it up again or allow it to creep back into your thoughts.
If you can’t seem to get rid of a bad feeling, repeat the process of setting a time limit. Once again, decide how long you will hold on to that emotion, and when the time is up, let it go.
Today’s assignment (My answers are in blue)
1. Choose a specific item, person or situation that makes you feel angry, frustrated, hurt, or sad. Describe this in detail.
I still remember how I felt when my husband did not get the teaching job a couple of years ago. I was angry because it wasn’t fair to him. But it also prevented me from being able to live close to my family. It was SO disappointing.
2. Mentally or with a piece of paper, place this issue into the palm of your hand. Hold it for a specific length of time, and then let it go. If necessary, do this several times in order to release the feelings.
Disappointment, anger, sadness – I had to decide it was OK to let it go.
3. Write a few lines that affirm you’ve let go of the issue as well as the feelings around it.
I learned that to get past disappointment and feeling let down, I had to let those feelings go. Then I had to move on and create new things in my life. (like this blog.)