Sometimes we may see something in the news, or have a difficult conversation with someone, and without realizing we hold onto certain feelings. Maybe we are able to let the feelings go without even noticing, but other times those feelings linger and eat away at us, taking little nibbles out of our soul. We lose our vibrancy and become sepia toned.
Our idea of our "self" can become totally enmeshed in these emotions, versus everything else that makes us a whole being.
I am defined by so many other things, such as my thoughts, my soul, my heritage, maybe my physical appearance...but I am not, as Mamma DBT tells us, my emotions.
Think about that for a moment and let it simmer. Who are you? What makes up "you?" You are not your depression. You are not your anger. You are not your happiness.
Wait, what?! Why can't we defined by our happiness?
...because we are not defined by our emotions, not even the positive ones. We cannot attach to something which is fleeting, either. And P.S., no one is happy twenty-four-seven. That's just not realistic!
So when you feel like you start to become one with your emotion, when you get too chummy, when that heavy dark cloud pours rain down onto you and doesn't allow the sunlight to even peek through, remember this mantra: I am not defined by my emotions.
You are so much more than that.
Plus, in a day or a week, you'll forget all about this emotion and be feeling something else. Trust.
- S