Letting Go of Negative Feelings

I mentioned before that when moving my blog content to a different platform, I lost a lot of my posts. So luckily I was able to find them all and would like to periodically re-post them here again. Although I wrote this one a few years ago when I was pregnant with Brooklyn, it was still a great reminder for me even in my life today. 

(Written in 2011)

In my attempt to prepare myself for natural childbirth I’m reading all kinds of books. At the moment I’m reading  Painless Childbirth: An Empowering Journey Through Pregnancy and Childbirth. This book can get a little too deep for my liking but I’m still learning a great deal from it. The part that stood out to me the most is when she talks about letting go of negative feelings to better prepare yourself for a painless childbirth. She explains that hypnotherapy can be a great way to get to the root of these unwanted feelings, and how powerful our subconscious mind can be. It’s really helping me analyze my life and release the negative feelings that are causing me a bit of stress.

There are a few things I’m working through right now (in my mind) and one of them has to do with a long lost friend. Someone I became really close to at one point. I haven’t seen or heard from her in over 5 years, and the last time I saw her was when I ran into her at a store. She was very cold and acted as if she didn’t even know me.  I knew instantly that something was wrong, this was not the excited bubbly friend I knew. I never saw her upset, and she was always so enthusiastic when ever we got together or talked on the phone. I left the store feeling overwhelmed with sadness and confusion. I didn’t know what happened. I replayed our last conversation over and over in my head, trying to come up with some sort of explanation for the way she acted towards me. I couldn’t figure it out, everything seemed to be fine. We haven’t spoken since that day. I’ve thought about her many times over the years and lost plenty of sleep over it.
A couple weeks ago I had this dream I got to see her again and I asked her what upset her so bad. In my dream she still seemed upset and didn’t really give me an answer. I woke up feeling like I should try to find her. I looked her up on Facebook… couldn’t find her. I emailed a mutual friend to ask if she knew where I could find her… no reply.
Another week passed and I was still bothered. Then I had another dream, and in this dream I saw her again and we actually talked and everything was good again. I woke up the next morning feeling totally refreshed and at peace with everything, which was amazing!
This is exactly what the author of this book talks about. She explains that we can do a lot of healing through our subconscious because many situations in life are completely out of our control. So if we can get our subconscious minds to create the outcome we hoped for then it can make us feel as if it really happened. It can provide tremendous healing and much needed closure.

Plan Of Happiness

I remember one summer day as a child, I was out playing with one of my friends. We were enjoying a nice time together until suddenly she punched me right in the gut, knocking the wind out of me. After a moment of panic and complete shock, I caught my breath. I couldn't believe she did this to me! 

I asked her, "WHY on earth would you do this?"

"I wanted to see if you would cry", she responded.

I compare this experience to our trials in life. God gave us free agency. The ability to act for ourselves. To CHOOSE! How will we respond to hurtful situations? Will we cry and become bitter? Or will we catch our breath and move forward?

We know that throughout life we are faced with different challenges. We for the most part understand that our purpose here on earth is to pass the test. Will we choose God? Or will be choose to follow our own selfish desires?

Often times I worry too much about what my next trial is going to be? I'm practically EXPECTING to get punched in the gut. But why am I so worried? Why do I fear trials so much?
I should be ready to face them with the "bring it on" attitude. I can handle this? God is with me and he will strengthen me because of it.

If we knew no sadness then we would not know joy.
If we had everything given to us, then we would not appreciate the value of hard work.
If we never had uninterrupted sleep by a screaming baby, then we might not ever appreciate how amazing it is to sleep through the night.
If we never got our hearts broken, then we might not fully appreciate it when we find ourselves a loving and trustworthy man.
If our children never faught with one another, we would not be so dramatically happy when we see them playing nicely together (I think they secretly know this).
 
 Getting punched in the gut, believe it or not, can be a good thing. It might hurt and leave us momentarily out of breath, but it can teach us things.  Perhaps to be prepared, be ready to flex when we see the fist coming. Or to understand that the pain and out of breath feeling only lasts for a moment.

In 2 Nephi chapter 2 verses 15-30 of the Book of Mormon teaches us that God's plan is a plan of HAPPINESS.  It was designed to be MOSTLY enjoyable.

"Happiness is the object and design of our existence."

Adam fell that men might be, and men are that they might have JOY!
2 Nephi 2:25

I need to stop fearing the future, and trust in God. We can expect to get the wind knocked out of us at times, but we need NOT expect that it will be the END of all joy and happiness. God is always there. He will never give us more than we can handle, and he promises that if we endure to the end, we will be blessed. In other words, our capacity to feel happiness and joy will increase.

Gods plan is utterly sweet and pure perfection. And LOVE is the foundation. He LOVES US! He WANTS us to be happy.