Obviously, there is a spectrum of feelings, their intensity, their origin, and ways to handle them. For this post, I’m going with a binary for the sake of argument.

One type of feeling is like a visiting mosquito that can be smashed and the other is like the pull of gravity that gets stronger when ignored.

When you become aware of an unwanted feeling, ask yourself, is this a mosquito feeling or a gravity feeling?

I know, you’re like “what the f*%$ she talking about?”

Let me tell ya. I can be easily irritated by things (hormones, anyone?). Sometimes I remember I have a choice to either stay irritated or to focus on something that reduces the irritation. These days, I’m choosing less irritation.

Choosing Joy

It’s not just about me anymore, it’s about my partner as well. I want to bring more joy into his life. I’m motivated and thrilled by the challenge. When I choose joy over irritation, everyone wins, especially me.

I’m not stuffing my feelings though. The old habit is to react to almost everything. The new one is to quickly categorize feelings as something I can simply let pass (“this is a sensation in my body that will shift”) or to change my thoughts (“I’m grateful for this man”).

Kill the Mosquito Feelings

If you only had today to live, wouldn’t you quickly realize that feelings of irritation are just, well, irritating? Like a mosquito buzzing around your ear irritating? I don’t kill many bugs, but when met with a mosquito, it’s war. More and more this is how I handle little shifts in emotion that start to take me down.

Now, again, this isn’t about denying reality. If someone or something is triggering less than pleasant feelings regularly, this must be addressed. If old wounds start to fester again or you are deliberately trying to heal old wounds in therapy (Go you!!), of course the feelings must be acknowledged, felt and loved on.

Can you remember a recent example of a mosquito feeling? What about a gravity feeling? How are they different?