Self

Giving In To My Emotions Today Is Probably Not A Good Idea

Sometimes You Simply Need To Check That Attitude

Even at a ripe (possibly overripe) old age of sixty-seven, I’m discovering some pretty neat life hacks from my writing sisters and brothers.

Today, I woke up all piss and vinegar (because I had yard work to finish from yesterday) and groused about it the entire top of the morning. So, after knocking off another Henry James piece, I wanted to spend the rest of the day writing how I felt.

Not a good thing to do in my earlier state of mind, let me tell you. Oh, I wanted to rant. I wanted to rage. I needed to pour my frustration and bile out on the page and send those white-hot flames of anger burning up the internet.

So I slammed down a few more Red Bulls (no I didn’t. I hate that nasty tasting sh*t) er, uh, cups of coffee and went downstairs to the office. Cracking my knuckles and rubbing my hands together, I was getting ready to lay a piece of attitude on you, folks.

And then, the strangest thing happened.

I started thinking about four writing sisters, kind of stopped and took a long moment to reflect on the consistent messages they delivered. Aside from the hundreds of writing sisters I love to read, these four always speak of inner peace, mindfulness, and the inordinate benefits of meditation.

I won’t call them out on this piece, but ladies if you read this — you’re a creative human, you believe in ending all of your work with the Hindi greeting, namaste, you consistently teach others the benefits of positive thinking and mindfulness and you’re always wishing us miracles — then you know this piece is for you.

In full transparency, I’m just not a meditative kind of fellow. Perhaps, I should change that, and maybe one day I will. But for now, meditative tranquilness just isn’t my thing.

But thinking about how these four writing sisters lead their lives and how they’re always reaching out to us with prime examples of ways toward feeling better about ourselves gave me cause to check my attitude.

This afternoon, I realized not giving into a poor emotional state is what these four writing sisters have been telling me (us) for years. It’s not about attempting to ride a tidal wave of emotionally bankrupt feelings and hoping and praying you’ll survive unscathed.

It’s about turning those denigrating thoughts around and putting a positive spin on them. It’s about inspecting every aspect of what’s making up those negative emotions and dissecting each one in turn.

These four writing sisters teach us how to correct the negative by concentrating on what we truly have control over — ourselves.

Sometimes the mind holds sway over the heart, and when it does, we often get a healthy dose of self-doubt and anxiousness and fear. This is often exacerbated by leaning into those fears and letting our minds concoct even more trepidation and anxiety.

It soon becomes a juggernaut of stress and emotional despair that is far too often difficult to overcome. At least that’s what happens to me. Maybe you have better ways of coping.

Or perhaps just like me, you sometimes struggle to cope as well.

Thinking about these four ladies, and the fantastic way they bring enrichment to the soul tells me I should just not give in to my emotional state today. They tell me I need to check that attitude and practice mindfulness. They’re consistently telling me and others how to practice meditative peacefulness and how to be a creative Human.

They’re teaching us how to start with positive thinking about ourselves and others. They are telling us how to become aware of the triggers which simply allow negativity to come pouring into our brains and hearts.

And they each, in their own uplifting way, show us ways to prevent these emotions from tearing us down.

This afternoon, before I started writing, I first checked that old attitude of mine and closed my eyes. I listened to all the sounds filling up the white noise around me.

I turned my thoughts inward and began to examine the emotions I was feeling, studying the cause of each one. I then asked myself if I was feeling like this because I wanted to or was I stressing about things I couldn’t control.

I thought about doing better things for more people and opening my heart to let the sunshine flow in.

I took breath, after breath, after cleansing breath.

And then I wrote this piece.

While there are many more simply fantastic sister writers I love to read here I wouldn’t have enough time in many years to tell you what their writing has done for me personally.

But today, I thought of these four and tried to do what they recommended.

Although I’m probably not the best at it now, perhaps if I continue to follow the suggestions these four ladies bring to the table, I’ll bring about a stunning positive change in my personal perspectives.

All I know for sure is that I thank you so much for writing and being there for me this afternoon.

Thanks So Much For Reading

Let’s keep in touch: [email protected]

© P.G. Barnett, 2020. All Rights Reserved.