Embracing all the feels

Someone recently told me how they were making lots of ‘happy’ plans to stay busy and avoid grieving.

And I get it. Given the choice, I think we’d all rather be happy than sad.

But constantly trying to suppress certain emotions ultimately leaves us numb — unable to feel much of anything, happy or sad.

We can’t selectively feel emotions. To feel at all, we must feel it all — pain and joy, loss and love, fear and excitement.

In The Cry of the Soul, Dr Dan Allender and Dr Tremper Longman III describe our struggle to feel. “Emotion links our internal and external worlds. To be aware of what we feel can open us to questions we would rather ignore. For many of us, that is precisely why it is easier not to feel.”

And then later they explain, “Emotions are the language of the soul. They are the cry that gives the heart a voice. To understand our deepest passions and convictions, we must learn to listen to the cry of the soul.”

Maybe today we need to give ourselves time and space for all the feels — to listen to the cry of our soul.