The Pagan Path

Those who wonder are not lost; they are trying to awaken! 'The Sleeper must awaken!'

Tuesday, August 18, 2015

The Depth of Feeling

Feelings are funny things; not only can they change on a whim, they can be worn on the sleeve, so to speak, or they can 'run silent, run deep', in ( sub ) marine terms!

The 'way of the world', it would seem today, is to wear your feelings on your sleeve, or on your t-shirt, Facebook, etc; to let everyone know just how unhappy, sad, depressed, or tired you are! It is by no means wrong to have these feelings & although it is not always the best idea to let everyone & their brother or sister know, it is unavoidable when it comes to having these feelings; it's in our make-up, it's how we were engineered! As always though, we have a choice as to whether those feelings will rule over us, or whether we will keep our feelings under control, or even determine what feelings we will let show!

There is much in this life to make us unhappy, sad, depressed & tired! Whatever the reason, it just seems that some of us are simply doomed to 'wash, rinse, repeat' all of our life & never to dry. Sometimes it may seem to just happen to us, as a persecution we must endure as our lot in life; other times, we may even realize that we are simply reaping what we've sown, but yet see no way out. Feelings are addictive, both physically & emotionally speaking; when we are used to feeling a certain way, although it IS unhappy, sad, depressed & tired, even though we may hate those feelings, we find almost a comfort in them & are afraid to leave that zone!

Everybody has feelings; there's no denying that & there's no use in trying to hide that fact, however disturbing it might be! Besides the physical senses, we also have our immaterial senses, what we feel in our spirit & emotions. For centuries, certain religion has certified that much of the physical senses are taboo, except in certain context! In some sense, these senses, particularly that of touch, must be carefully regulated in order to avoid what is called drama in this day & age. This is not to imply any outside governmental regulations, but some restraint must be exercised by the person wielding the feelings so that matters don't get out of hand; although sometimes, it may seem best for matters to get out of hand!

Speaking from experience & I'm sure everyone reading this can attest to this disturbing fact, feelings are unavoidable when it comes to living in the real world! When people treat us in any way that makes us uncomfortable, it is difficult ( more for some, less for others ) to keep our feelings from surfacing. Here's where one must exercise good judgement; sometimes it's best to keep those feelings reined in, but often,  it might more advisable to let those feelings fly & to let that person know that for them to continue to pursue their present course of action might be dangerous to their health!

Feelings are often unexplainable too! Sometimes we can't quite put a finger, so to speak, on why a certain person or a certain course of action just hits us wrong, just doesn't settle right with us! Too often we put the entire blame for our own feelings on these people & while some of the blame must certainly rest with them, we must realize that we always have a choice as to how we respond to their actions, whether we allow our feelings to determine our response, or whether we will choose, not to ignore those feelings necessarily, but to simply do what's right, in spite of feelings that may run to the contrary!

While there is much in this world in which we live to make us unhappy, sad, depressed & tired ( of living? ), there is also much to be happy & joyous about! Though we often get tired of holding back those negative feelings & of focusing on the positive, this world, which IS our Heavenly Father's, our Creator's, is gloriously full of things to find joy in! It can be as simple as laying in fields of gold with birds chirping all around you & a gentle breeze moving slightly over you, or it could be as complex as facing the hardships of life with the right person by your side!

When faced with what might seem insurmountable ( even unjust ) circumstances, we all have a tendency to give in, to treat those circumstances in concordance with our feelings & allowing them to rush over our heads, drowning us with our sorrows! As mentioned earlier though, we always have a choice, we can let those feelings determine our course of action ( or inaction ) or we can rise above the waves & chart a new course, riding those waves to a place of safety!

Feelings can be a dangerous thing, but when brought under control, they can be gloriously dangerous!

Charles Haddon Shank

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