Change of plan today, because I felt drawn to do the exercise about resentment today.
One reason we hide our emotions is because we feel guilty for having them in the first place.
I know how damaging this can be. One thing I read about depression stuck with me. I wish I could remember where I read it because it makes sense. Depression comes from suppressing or pressing down your emotions. I know that once I began examining my emotions I began to get better. Not 100% obviously – the last few posts are proof of that – but I come out of these periods quicker, and I can sense what’s going on sooner, which usually stops me falling quite so far.
The exercise is simple:
- Complete the sentence I am feeling resentful about…(what?) or I am feeling resentful with… (who?) as many times as you need.
- Look at each statement in turn and ask the questions:
- What lies behind this feeling?
- what if anything do I need to do about it?
I did this four times tonight. I won’t say what I was resentful about, because once it was over I tore up the paper and flushed it away. This was actually the answer to one of the questions “what do I need to do about it?” This helped because it’s a good way of releasing the guilt – not only is the resentment out of my mind, but now it’s torn into little bits and (symbolically) out of my life too.
I work well with symbolism like this. My brain may not always be helpful or indeed healthy, but it does work in some wonderful ways too.
👁 💗 my 🧠
It’s important to give love to all parts of yourself, especially the bits you don’t like. I’ve been moaning about my brain a lot recently but that’s as effective as moaning about my kidney. It doesn’t contribute anything to getting better.
Today’s activity was a good one. I will be doing this one again.
The Friendly Magpie 