Emotional Self-Abandonment

Emotional Self-Abandonment

photo credit: gingher

We, as humans, have a tendency to use our mind to negate our emotions. We use our mind as a tool to abandon how we feel.

I know, personally, I often use my mind to abandon my negative feelings, especially when they are directed at someone I love. In these moments, I’d rather pretend the feelings aren’t there… than explore why they are. The result of doing this, of locking up my sensitives in my logical mind, is that I disown my feelings and my emotional needs.

For some of us, we negate our feelings or emotional needs because we feel the expression of them is dangerous. Our emotions feel too vulnerable and the sharing of them feels to risky. Rightfully, risks are present when we share our most vulnerable self — but hiding our feelings from others is far more dangerous. For it leads us to mask our feelings, not only for others, but from our self. Rather than feel what we feel, we learn to abandon ourselves emotionally. We learn to negate what we feel and to lock it up in our mind. This lack of emotional self-awareness, and this mental overemphasis, further disconnects us from our self — and others.

We owe it to our emotional self to break our cycle of self-abandonment.

Emotional self-abandonment may feel safer — but it is no less painful than our own emotional truth — and it is all the more detrimental. For in not being present to our selves, we become slightly lost.

However, by acknowledging our logical desire to negate our feelings, we begin to break this cycle. Simply in seeing our abandonment, we cease our pattern of turning our back on our feelings. For recognizing our neglect enables us to be present to our emotional self once again, and within this awareness, we find we no longer need to leave any part of ourselves out again.

photo credit: gingher

The Emotion of Money

The Emotion of Money

photo credit Doug Wheller

I want to share this fantastic example of how much we are motivated by our emotions when it comes to money, and valuing things.

Ask yourself:

Is the value of the Empire State Building high because the value of rent is high, or vice versa, is the value of rent high because the building is highly valued?

What do you think?

Does it change if I asked you to substitute WHAT you are valuing?

Is the value of a cow high because the value of calves and milk is high, or vice versa, is the value of milk and calves high because cows are highly valued?

In altering WHAT you are valuing, did your willingness to pay change?

This analogy’s purpose is to highlight that your willingness to pay is fluid, and not set. How you value things and what you are willing to pay depends on how you feel about (yourself and) the thing you are valuing.

Fascinating, isn’t it?

photo credit: Doug Wheller