Letting It All Go…

I was recently contemplating a stressful situation. As I was reliving conversations (or imagining them in my head) I just overheard myself say to myself, "Those were my emotional years". What is wrong with the emotional years? Is it just because I have some extra hormones laying around from my pregnancies or that I'm inching my way closer to menopause. What is it that makes us so afraid to cry?  Why do we jam pack our lives so full, that we don't allow ourselves the space to release those emotions? I think there was a time when women really idolized women that were in power.  They didn't show their emotions.  They had to be strong.  Act like a man to be respected in a Mad Men world.  Big girls don't cry, right? Women like Gloria Steinem-- you never saw her shed a tear in any of those public events but she had to be filled with emotions. The grievances against other women must have weighed heavy on her soul.  She had to have had a moment when she broke down and had to release that. It is too powerful to hold on to.  She had to have been fighting for more than equal rights...but a chance for us to accept the femininity and the emotional nature of our selves. --breathe--  As women of this era, we know that we wear our hearts on our sleeves.  And, we are well aware and more accepting of those emotions.  As women come to the forefront, welcomed into many more positions of power, how many of us are willing to show our emotions publicly? How many of us show our emotions to even the people that are closest to us? Are you really honest about how you feel? How many of us are really open enough to own up to our own emotions in ourselves? I look back on the women in my life and how they influence me.  The ones that had the most strength and had the most character have shared those emotions with me. Was it in the showing or was it in the sharing that made it such a connection? Was it in the showing or was it in the sharing that made me see them as such strong individuals?  Such strong, beautiful women for me. I think there's something beautiful in emotion.  It's a way of taking ownership.  An acknowledgement that there is a part of you and I that connects. Allow that to happen.  How many times in your life have you bitten your tongue so that you can fight back tears?  Or, how many times have you sworn to yourself, " I won't say I love you first"? How many times have you not answered the needs of your own being because you didn't want to be seen as weak?  These are all parts of ourselves that we need to accept, cherish and hold on to-- they make us who we are! Being an emotional being is not a bad thing.  Being an emotional being is simply human.  Expecting that in others and accepting it in our selves is the challenge. My son is learning how to express emotions.  Learning that when he has tears coming down his face-- that means he is sad.  And when he is smiling and laughing at the joys of the world-- that means he is happy.  I certainly hope that as he learns his way through his emotions that he also learns that they are okay and not to hide them, but to share them. Share them with those that he can trust. Share it with those that love him. As you venture off from the reading this post,  I hope that you're a little more welcoming with your emotions and that with each new day you acknowledge them.  Share them.  Let them do their part in your journey-- for every emotion comes to us for a purpose. Even if it is anger at simple things...Let it go. Even if it is sadness from years gone by...Let it go. Releasing that emotion essentially is helping your body to live through it, in person.  You're past it. Releasing the hold that emotion, say anger, has on you...could help your liver, essentially. (every emotion corresponds to an organ...interesting stuff!) So, why do we hold on to emotions?  Sometimes we like the way they feel.  Sometimes, we don't know what to do with them.  Sometimes, we want to maintain a feeling. Much like old regrets, lost loved ones and friends that have moved away; they all brought something to our lives. But in the end, your emotions could be running you. Choose your friends wisely, and know when to Let them go...