Oftentimes, we don't know how to engage dodgy emotions so we move into full-on avoidance.
In the end, this doesn't work because simply avoiding an internal, unpleasant feeling does't ensure that it will go away.
Like a beachball held under the surface of the water, unresolved issues will rise again--usually exploding with greater pressure and consequence than they would have otherwise.
Instead, welcoming emotion enables us to be more fully human, which in turn results in increased emotional and spiritual health.
The human psyche as a guest house is a great metaphor for engaging emotion. We can welcome emotions as temporary house guests, recognizing the they will come and go and that we only need entertain them for a little while.
In fact, it's only when we experience them that they lose their grip on our soul.
So today have a little compassion on your soul. Feel what you are feeling, and let it go.
THE GUEST HOUSE
This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.
A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.
Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they are a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.
The dark thought, the shame, the malice.
meet them at the door laughing and invite them in.
Be grateful for whatever comes.
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.
-- Jelaluddin Rumi
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