Processing Feelings - A River of Emotions

It’s like a river of goods.  A river with items flowing within it.  The water is the potential for feelings – the possibilities to which one can have an emotion or a complex web of emotions.  It is constantly flowing and moving at the readiness to be emersed into or simply to dip a toe into.  The river may be a lazy, gently flowing stream or a rapid torrent.  Neither is good or bad – sometimes we need the peaceful, slow and gentle receptivity that nurtures and supports.  But sometimes we need the rush of emotions – the great motivator of passions, desires and beliefs to take action and put things in motion.  What we learn to do as we become wiser and more responsive to our emotions rather than reactive is to become an observer and gauge of the temperature – is it raging hot or icy cold or something in the middle?  Could we make adjustments and steer the course or change the perspective before the temperature becomes too extreme.  Could we work to allow a more temperate zone of consistency?  Could we be the balancer of the middle range that stretches with ease from one side of the scale to the other as needed but never too far that we topple from our balancing ball and fall hard becoming swept up in the emotional river?  How about the goods within the river – they are held, contained and materialized emotions that have taken form and stayed within our river.  Some are beautiful packages filled with golden memories and feelings of worth and love.  Yet others are more like debris.  The thing with debris is that you have to open them and evaluate them for all the pieces and parts that they are to find the gift of learning and strength that they contain.  They may not be the things we want to hold onto and have clogged up our rivers, but once dismantled we can filter them out and let them go yet maintain the fibers of gifts they house which create the structure, strength and flexibility within ourselves.  And with those fibers held within our form we can instantly recognize the similarities within others signaling a rise from the well of compassion.  The river and all its components are yours.  It moves no matter what but how it moves, the way it moves and what it contains within is navigated by you.  And here is another question – where is this river flowing?  What is the destination and what is the path to get there?  Our destinies are our own.  Our paths are of our own choosing.  Our response to obstacles along the path is within our care and the contents held within the river and delivered along the way is the mark to which you have left upon this earth.  Become your own water spirit – hold the reins within – stretch and move yourself as if you had no bounds, ride the waves but always remain true to yourself and what is held within the contents of your essence.  Be the water that understands the power and effect it has on its surroundings as well as its dependence upon those same surroundings.  Be the water that has clarity of vision, flexibility of mind and a heart of compassion.

In Gratitude and Love.

Nicole Sullivan