What are you thinking and feeling now that you are done eating?
The one thing I always wrote on these sheets was, 'this feeling won't last forever.'
And that's true.
No matter what happened or what I felt after eating, I knew the feelings; guilt, shame, dissatisfaction, would go away within a few hours or so.
I would forget all about them and be okay again.
And this is how I continue to look at things.
Every month around the same time I begin to feel my body expand, bloat, feel heavier, and yet I know that this is temporary and that in a couple of days, all of these gross feelings will subside and I will be okay once again.
The same thing happens again and again. I have a bad day or I have a bad moment. And yet, I am able to stay focused on the same thought. This won't last forever.
How can you do the same thing?
1. Start somewhere. It's simple, just start with this moment. Take the feelings you're having, the unpleasant ones and write down on a piece of paper, 'this won't last forever' and keep writing this over and over again. Or just whisper that phrase to yourself again and again.
If you allow yourself to relax into the feeling that you will be okay, you'll start to notice a difference. You'll start to let go of those negative feelings because you'll be realizing they really won't last forever.
2. Remember that your feelings are not facts. Feelings are just waves that come and go. Winds that float through your mind. If you can remember this in the dark times, you will be better suited to just sit with the feelings and wait until they have passed.
Observe yourself, what do you do with your feelings, will you let them control you? Or will you control them?
3. Stop the self pity. Most of the time when I had feelings I couldn't get rid of I would sink into a mode of self pity that would last for days. There was nothing good about doing this and it only worked to feed the fire more.
If you find yourself becoming sorry for yourself because of the feelings you have, try to take a step back and look at the whole picture. Feelings just are. They don't have to be good or bad or right or wrong, until we decide they are, so take a hard look around and really focus on what matters to you and what is real for you.
You surely don't deserve to be drowning in self pity that's for sure.
4. Don't act. Feelings can be scary and overwhelming. They can make you do things you would never do otherwise. But when you act on them, you give up your control over them. You are the one who is in charge of your feelings and what you do with them. Don't let it be the other way around.
Before you make any sudden judgments or big moves, relax and take a breath. Just breathe for a while until a calm comes over you. Then you can figure out what to do from there.
When we make decisions in times of weakness, nothing good can usually come from it. Relax.
If there's one thing you learn from this, let it be that your feelings wont last forever.
They do subside, you just need to give yourself time.
You're not alone.
xoxo
Tayla
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