February 24th - Let the good time roll...

 The story...

When I was 19 years old, I recorded the The Cars song "Let the good times roll" consecutively until it filled both sides of a cassette tape.  From what I remember, it was the only song that anybody in my car listened to for at least a month.  Why not choose to always feel happy and surround yourself with others who made the same decision?  I naively thought that I might be able to choose, or control, the way I felt by using the song as a consistent reminder to stay in the "groove" - suppress those unwanted feelings.

Around the same time in history, a psychologist, Paul Eckman, identified the following six basic emotions: happiness, sadness, disgust, fear, surprise, and anger.  It seems that I was trying to suppress conscious feelings of sadness, fear, disgust and anger as "we" listened to my tape. The idea is that we sense with out five senses which triggers feelings - deeper down inside us emotions are triggered too.  Yes, our emotions and feelings help us to make sense of what we both experienced and are experiencing in life.

Today, I'm more "in tune" with my feelings and emotions - less static.  I'm more aware of how I feel regarding what I'm sensing and also beginning to better understand my emotions too.  Growing in self awareness seems to be a worthy endeavor.  I spend less time belaboring, or recycling, feelings and emotions over, over and over...  It seems good to understand our feelings without quickly reacting - letting go of emotions before they become obsessive thoughts.  

How might the only church in town deal with the reality of people's feelings and emotions as they work out life together?  I've heard preachers say that facts should be the engine that drives your life train and that feelings should stay back there in the caboose.  I expect that the community might be harmed if people often react quickly to their feelings, belabor obsessively over emotional issues, or focus on maintaining heightened emotions during group gatherings. The group would likely work better if the leaders and the go-to people were emotionally intelligent.

Just for today...

"Let me learn to keep peace with silence when it is not the right time to say what comes to mind." One Day at a Time (p. 55)

"When I can't find a solution to a problem, when I have nagging doubts, fears, or frustrations, when I feel lost or confused, a searching and fearless moral inventory of myself can make a tremendous difference."  Courage to Change (p. 55)

Do you want to be a good or bad character in this epic story of life?