Ambassadors of Joy

We get stuck in emotional states, and our recollection of repeated moods sets our impressions of who we are; and further, dictates how we affect those around us.

I know it feels like emotions happen to us like the weather. Something blows in and changes the way we feel. We become cold and shaky or hot and sweaty or pleasantly refreshed and elated. This is how it seems because this is our experience of how it's felt. However, this is not how it is.

Emotions may spring up spontaneously, but they won't linger unless invited to do so. We have to give them our attention and our thoughts, as water and food, to sustain them.

It is, perhaps, easier to see how this works with thoughts. A thought enters our field of perception. Maybe we focus on it, maybe not. If we don't, it disappears in a flash. It may, or may not, return later. If we water it with our attention and feed it with our emotional energy, it takes root and grows accordingly. Caring holds our interest and attention gives it fuel to flourish.

When we feel something, we can choose to pay attention to it, or not.

Upon getting startled, there's a momentary rush of fear. Once we see that the loud noise doesn't represent imminent danger, we let go and it quickly resides.

Even when embroiled in a feeling, we can shift in an instant.

Think about an occasion when you were angry, stressed or worried and the phone rang. Out of a sense of social expectation, you automatically answer in a courteous and cheerful tone. If it's a friend and you're drawn into a pleasant conversation, rather than recounting your mood and its perceived causes, you quickly find yourself feeling good.

Fortunately, a phone call isn't a prerequisite for shifting our focus and changing our mood.

If you pause and reminisce about a happy occasion, you'll begin to feel lightness and warmth. If you reflect on a frustrating memory, you'll feel tighter and closed off. In any given moment, we have the capacity to choose and change our feeling. All you need to do is imagine and invite it, and will appear.

There's a buffet in front of us, all the time. If a bite tastes sour or bitter, spit it out. Select another dish that tastes healthful and pleasing, and refresh your pallet.

It's really that easy; but then again, it's really not – at least, initially. We have habits, expectations and recollections of ourselves that includes being swept around in the currents of random feelings. Additionally, familiarity breeds comfort, so as bad as they may feel, we can be strangely drawn to them. Sometimes people hold beliefs that they deserve such ill feelings. And others commonly try to influence us because they want us to be like them, as the quality of their lives shift at the whims of their feelings.

Training and reprogramming are necessary, as well as, reframing the way we see our relationship with our emotions. It's a process and an evolution that takes diligence and time. There will be back sliding and doubt along the way. But as we start to see the results and notice the improvement in our lives, beyond how we feel, we gain inspiration and build momentum.

When we feel better, we're more connected to our lives and more open to others around us. Whatever our moods, they're infectious, and if we maintain positive attitudes, we inspire others to become better beings, themselves. Both through this immediate contact, and via our resonance with the fabric of existence, we influence the greater consciousness toward a higher evolution when we intentionally direct our feelings, as an on going practice.

Breathe and smile.