Reflections from a midlife journey
Feel the love
Avoiding the present is a way of distracting ourselves from our feelings. We don’t just distract ourselves from negative feelings, though. We distract ourselves from the positive feelings too. In fact, I believe we distract ourselves more often from positive feelings like love, appreciation, and joy. For many of us, these positive feelings are more uncomfortable than negative feelings. Why is that?
The angry girl within
I was an angry child. Not all the time--just when my feelings weren’t being acknowledged or considered, which was a lot. I got a very clear message: My feelings didn’t matter. Here’s how that message manifested itself in my behavior over the years.