It’s very much true that we should actually listen to our emotions, hear what they have to say, and weigh that wisdom with the other voices going on inside us to find our soul’s path. Sometimes that means doing what we feel like doing in the moment because that freedom allows us to unfold, sometimes it’s getting tall and strong by taking on a challenge that leads us to feeling victorious and accomplished and vindicated. Sometimes it means stopping doing things that are causing us negative emotions or giving into those hard feelings so we validate and honor our true selves. Sometimes we spend 5 times the amount of energy trying to avoid feeling our feelings because we judge them in some way when if we just feel them they come in and wash away what is no longer necessary, then go out again leaving nuggets of wisdom behind.
Unfortunately some people use their emotions like scapegoats. Instead of listening to their emotions which they know will lead them to deep truths, hard decisions, life changing realizations and the life they deserve, they use emotions as a way to keep things exactly the same or even make them worse. “I don’t want to” , ” I’m not feeling it” , “It doesn’t make my soul sing” , “I think I’m doing just fine the way I am” , “I can be happy without that. I just have to keep doing what I’m doing.” All of this seems like its emotional competence, but the proof is in the pudding. If the wisdom of your emotions is keeping you trapped in an unhealthy lifestyle, is leading you to do things that hurt you and those around you, create continuously negative results, or perpetuate bad behaviors, then it’s probably not emotional wisdom, but emotions being used as a scapegoat for continuing bad choices.
If you think you can’t tell the difference just watch pretty much any of the reality tv shows out there. The reason we like them is because of the emotional content. Provoked, manipulated or even instigated, we still love to see people behaving badly for a variety of reasons. It makes us feel better about ourselves because we aren’t as bad as that, it allows us the catharsis of seeing someone else act out what we would like to but won’t for a variety of reasons, and validates our own experience because we see people using emotions as scapegoats for behavior in the same we do. Knowing that you can tell the difference points out the real crux of the matter, in the moment do you choose to? In this year of the goat are you willing to stop using your emotions as a scapegoat for your choices and behaviors? What would your life look like if you changed the channel from reality TV to the emotional wisdom channel (EWC)?