December 6th - Can we make sense of our emotions without reacting?

The story...

They made a rude and self-centered verbal attack on the character of a person who I deeply cared for.  Multiple emotions rushed into my mind.  I reacted quickly by cutting down the speaker with sharp and hurtful words - my message couldn't be ignored and our relationship was damaged.  The exchange may have been justified yet the relationship damage was hurtful and painful.  An emotionally intelligent person may have used the conversation as a means to more subtly allow the other person to see their perspective more clearly and deal with it in their own way - saving face.

I've heard it said that our emotions will last about 90 seconds if we don't feed them.  If that's true, then within 90 seconds we can choose to either: ignore the feeling, pretend it isn't real, evaluate it rationally, equate it with another feeling, choose to remember it for later reference, react positively or negatively to it, or begin the recurring process of obsessively thinking about it.  Oh... how many hours I've painfully wasted obsessively thinking about a relationships gone bad.

Might we put each emotion out in the light of day and examine it in real time - it'll be gone in 90 seconds unless we feed it.  Often I'm surprised at a reality they'll expose - often one that's been ignored.  Emotions are truly another sense that we've been gifted with - part of the joy of being uniquely human.  This is one lesson that I wish a benefactor would have decided and endeavored to teach me - my need to understand my emotions must've been obvious to some.  Maybe they saw that I needed to be "broken" first.

The only church in town will contain wise and capable mentors who'll be able to meet us where we are - by the grace of God.  Those who can relate to our position and condition as it more truly is.  They'll care because of the grace bestowed on them by "That Than Which There is No Greater" in Christ - gracefully.

Just for today...

"Anger can give me an illusion of power. For a little while I may feel I have control over my situation and over other people, but that kind of false security always lets me down."  Courage to Change (p. 341)

"He needs much help who thinks he can compel others to do what seems right to him."  One Day at a Time (p. 341)