Emotions aren’t one at a time

A friend (I’ll call her Kelly) texted me a pic of an adorable cat she was thinking about getting for her other cat.

I get that because we got Ginny (our yellow Lab puppy) in large part for her older sister (Carolina, our 6.5 yr old black Lab) to have a buddy.

Kelly said she was feeling nervous and excited and asked if I felt that way before getting Ginny.

My reply was, only 100000000000%!

She said, oh really you didn’t show it!

I said, that’s because Sully and I took turns freaking out, LOL!

I had ALL the feelings about getting Ginny and they were frequently happening at the same time because that’s what feelings do. 

They do not happen one at a time with clear beginnings and endings.

Our emotions are usually pot pourris of opposites.

You feel excited and scared about bringing a new furry kid into the mix and aren’t sure what that’s gonna look like. 

That makes total sense! 

Change, whether it’s “postitive” or “negative,” reads as a potential threat to the primitive part of our brains.

You feel really fucking sad that your mom passed, and relief that you don’t have to be the only one caring for her anymore. Which brings up guilt that you feel that way. (It is ok to feel relief in this situation. Everyone secretly does but they’re ashamed to admit it. Let’s normalize it cuz that shame is heavy AF!)

Start by noticing. Just noticing.

“Huh, I notice I’m feeling scared and excited…”

This seemingly small step is actually huge!

You’re naming it, giving it some space to exist instead of trying to suppress it and you’re seeing that it’s something you’re *experiencing* and not *who you are as a person* which gives it the opportunity to to pass through you.

That’s all our emotions want to do BTW.

They’re not here to torture or kill you.

They’re messengers from your body that something’s up, and to take a looksie in case it needs more attention or action.

They don’t want to stick around anymore than a burp or a fart wants to stay inside. They want to move through you.

Try noticing and naming your emotions today…

See what happens…

You got this, Sunshine and I’ve always got your back!