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Emotions Are Like Clouds; They Don't Define You


When we feel emotions, especailly negative ones, we start to feel badly about ourselves. The truth is, the emotions aren't necessarily good or bad. They just are. They come from our thoughts, so if we want to change our emotions, we have to work on changing our thoughts. Try affirmations, which help us truly believe we are who we want to become (how to create affirmations is described in the empowerment project).

"My emotions don't define me;" they are always shifting like the shadows of clouds are always changing. Realize when you are in a dark time, it's just like the dark patches of a cloud; it will be over soon enough. When I called my mentor because I was feeling down, she said "When we hang up you'll be able to go play with your little girls and the day will already look brighter. I know by tonight you'll want to call me and say, 'I'm feeling so much better than I was this morning.'" That's how our days go, right? There is always a light at the end of the tunnel.

I found this exercise on a website called simple mindfulness: On your next walk, think of your thoughts and emotions as little puffy clouds in the sky. The vast open blueness of the sky is you, your essence, your True Self. Endless. As a thought or feeling comes up, put its name on a cloud and watch the cloud float away. No judgments. The thoughts and feelings aren’t good or bad. They just are. They’re not permanent. They aren’t who you are. You are the backdrop for them. You aren’t connected to them. It’s your choice to focus on them and make them grow into thunderclouds or to let them drift by or dissipate as the little puffy clouds they are.

Realizing that we are not our thoughts and emotions is very freeing. We are free to choose. Others don’t make us feel or do anything. Consciously or subconsciously, we are always making choices about how to act or react. Taking on that responsibility is very freeing. We’re no longer a victim. We are free to choose our own experiences of the world.

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