As humanity’s awakening process continues and intensifies more and more people are finding themselves swamped or overwhelmed with emotional stuff, stuff that was so deeply buried or so strongly denied that they just did not know it was lying there waiting for acknowledgment and release. You are not your emotions, you are not your feelings, you just experience them . . . if you will allow them to arise. You cannot release them if you refuse to experience them, and mostly you keep them hidden, buried, or denied out of fear that the pain they will cause you will be totally overpowering. Well yes, the pain can be intense, extremely unpleasant, but it will not overpower you because you are far, far stronger than any emotions or feelings that could ever arise within you.
The thing is to remind yourselves as they arise that they are not you. Then you can withdraw a little and observe them and, as the experiences flow, do not attempt to analyze them or uncover the place from which they are arising. They are all memories of old, sometimes extremely old events that were very painful in the moment they occurred and so they were buried and denied in that moment. They remain buried within you until they are acknowledged and released and that is what is occurring now. It can seem appropriate to attach them to or place the blame for them on events that have occurred in this lifetime, but whether or not they are linked to events in your present lives, or are deeply buried stuff from way back, they are from the past, and as you know there truly is only now, and in this moment you are not actually suffering pain but you are dwelling on pain that is no longer present. By attempting to analyze them you just remain in the pain building a feedback loop that keeps presenting you with something that is over and finished with.
The way forward is to forgive yourselves for holding onto the pain and resentment and to forgive anyone who has caused you pain. When you truly let go and forgive then resentment and bitterness will fall away and you will find inner peace, peace that has always been there waiting for you to remove the blocks to your awareness of it. Holding onto pain by recalling it brings the old suffering into the now moment for you to relive it, and there is no benefit in doing that, it only causes you totally unnecessary further pain and suffering.
Life is a divine gift for you to engage with and enjoy. However, life as a human, playing the games that are part and parcel of that state, offers you opportunities to choose from that can cause suffering as well as joy. Some who have gone through life threatening injuries or illnesses have moved forward into joy as they learned to deal with these difficult issues, whilst others, who have apparently had far easier lives, choose to dwell on what displeases them about their lives and then appear to “enjoy” constant dissatisfaction or suffering.
You have a saying “life is what you make of it,” and that is definitely true. Joy resides within you, it is not experienced as a result of external events, objects, or situations, although of course those can temporarily intensify an experience. You make a choice in every moment as to how you will respond to life – engaging enthusiastically, engaging, engaging with resignation, or refusing to engage – and your experiences will match those choices, bringing you joy or satisfaction, or disappointment and pain.
No human life can possibly be entirely joyful because the human condition in and of itself is demanding in that there are consequences that occur due to the choices you make moment by moment. As you grow from infancy to adulthood you learn many lessons and your competence to make appropriate choices also grows. However, very frequently you make choices that are emotionally driven in an immediate reaction to situations or events that arise. When you are driving a car in busy traffic, or engaged in other fast moving activities, that is not only appropriate, but necessary. And, of course, sometimes in those kinds of situations the wrong choice is made inadvertently. Forgive yourselves for these errors and move on, as do your lives.
Set the intent daily not only to be loving whatever arises, but also to be fully aware in every moment so that instant reaction is not required and loving responses can be presented to deal with whatever issues arise. When you live like that life flows far more smoothly and the emotional need to be in control, or the sense that you have lost control due to a sense of overwhelm occurs far less frequently. When you choose to live in loving awareness the need to hurry or rush becomes less intense, and you find yourselves achieving what you planned with greater ease, efficiency, and satisfaction.
Life in today’s world seems not only to be very fast paced, but also to be accelerating so that there appears to be little time or space for your essential personal needs to be met and honored. Nevertheless, you can make space available throughout your very busy days to to go within and relax in the loving peace that is your natural state. That state is who you are, and resting in it for even a brief moment – for instance while waiting for traffic lights to change, or between stops on the subway – renews and revitalizes you. And of course morning and or evening visits to that holy inner sanctuary where Love resides permanently really enable you to strengthen your resolve and intent to be loving whatever arises.
When you take time out for those visits know that you are fully supported by your team in the spiritual realms, and invite them to share that space with you, as they most willingly will. You will feel their loving presence if you just relax and allow, no effort of any kind is required from you. Just intend to cease engaging with the endless stream of ongoing thoughts while you settle into that holy inner sanctuary, and forgive yourselves without judgment when you do get caught up in them. Remember, no matter what is happening in your lives, you are always unconditionally accepted and infinitely loved, because God’s Love for you is constant and unchanging.
With so very much love, Saul.