When was the last time you experienced a storm?
Do you remember what it felt like? The rain beating the roof, the ominous skies, the thunder and lightning, the windows rattling in the wind. And once the storm passes, the silvery sky and the smell of a world freshly washed.
Difficult times are like this.
They can be scary, when you're in the thick of it. The fear, hopelessness, frustration, stress, sadness, anxiety, isolation. It's often overwhelming.
When this happens, it sometimes feels like we're never going to get through it. Like it's going to pour down on us forever and it's never going to pass.
In those stormy moments, it's often difficult to remember who we are. As we're getting battered by the thunder, lightening and dripping in the intensity of the moment, it's often easy to get disoriented. Sometimes we lose ourselves in the feelings and the tumult of it all.
But what if I told you, it's within your power to stay anchored through the tempest?
You see, Dear One, you are more than the intensity of your storms.
Your emotional weather doesn't define you. All that wind, rain, and lightning - that's not YOU.
The reality is: our feelings are not who we are.
Feelings are like weather. They pass.
You're not in the clouds, the rain, the thunder or the lightning. You're beyond that.
You're the clear blue sky that stretches serenely above it all, watching, waiting, and quietly riding it out until it all blows away, and reveals you're still there. Like before.
No stormy feelings, no matter how awful they make you feel, will hurt you. You're tougher than that.
Ride them out, like waves, and remember you're the big, blue sky beyond.
Don't let your storms scare you when they roll in. You're strong enough to weather them.
Three tips for surviving intense feelings:
1. Give them time.
2. Stay anchored to your true self.
3. Remember they pass.
Slap a label on your feelings that that says: "Now you feel it, now you don't."
You can weather this. You've got this!
Just by being powerful, serene, beautiful YOU.