Emotionally dampening challenges include stepping in poop, getting rear-ended, battling a loved-one, slamming our elbow on a counter corner, or… you get the picture. For some reason we think we are either cursed or punished for something that happened or possible did. That is wrong. It’s not the shit that happens to us but what we do about that counts.
Three weeks ago, my car was hit and totaled. Two weeks ago, shingles attacked my thigh. And then, at my emotional lowest, I attacked (verbally) my daughter. The subject matter is of no consequence. She’s an adult. And If I’ve learned anything, shouting does not make for a conversation, and it is her right to learn from Success and failure on her won. Mother’s know… letting failures happen to their child is excruciating.. Let me say, that if this by-standing influencer took responsibility for their actions, lifted some of the burdens, showed any amount of respect for their partner…well, I’d still be concerned… but less so. SEE that’s me, myself and I wrongfully putting myself in her shoes (while she’s still in them, and trying to force her to walk MY way. This is where my emotions muddy the clarity of the whole situation. I walked away from my outburst feeling demoralized and doubt-filled. Ugh. The overcharged battle I fought turned inward and vicious. Rage cut deep into my ego, causing it to lash out against everything I’ve strived for in my life.
That’s where I lost me.
.I am not my daughter. My daughter is not me.
That night, I fought for the Nothingful. Damn that’s hard when it’s your child your “trying to save from themselves”. It felt like a part of me went dark. Empty. The resulting pain from total disconnection is brief but essential. You know you’re alive, want to exist, but for a brief time, every emotion you’ve ever felt, each piece of information thought you knew inside and out, all the layers of other people’s beliefs, desires, dreams…drop away. And that’s when the truth of just me emerged. Unsettling as the epiphanies were, I understood. Not only is my daughter not me, she isn’t the list of adjectives I believed made up her person. I knew, at once that despite outside influences, including myself, she must decide who she is and what she wants all on her own. Her path is not for me to pave. The Nothingful helped me resolve my inner angst. This understanding kept the needless burden of recreating who she is, from crushing my soul. Ego pushes us to be unnecessarily selfish. Emotions fuel ego. Working on my happiness, path, and clarity ARE good selfish motives. How can you tell the difference? Does your happy depend on your own actions or others? Peace!!! My journey continues. Tell me about yours in IMs
Mel Evers wonders about it all 