A riddle about emotions - can you solve it?

Imagine all your worst, unbearable emotions: hate, depression, desperation, pain, guilt, rejection, loneliness,
abandonment.

I am talking about emotions, not physical sensations.

Forget about the life events that "makes" you feel that way.
I said "make" because, its you who create the feelings with your reaction to the event, not the event itself but that´s another story.

Focus on your worst emotions.

Now comes the riddle:

Love those emotions with all your heart, all your being, love them unconditionally.

Love them like the most lovable thing you can think of.

Love your hate, love your fear, love your depression, love your low self-esteem, love it all.

And when subject to the events that trigger those emotions, don't forget to love that feeling, love it with all that you've got.

What happens to you emotionally?

Where is fear now?

Touched by love, where did fear go?

reply to post by Manula


And then you wake in the middle of the night, uncontrolled frightening and violent emotions ravishing your mind, body and soul. Your body in full fight or flight response due to a foul nightmare that at the moment of waking slips from your mind.

You want me to do what?

Between your post and mine you may get a feel for the theory and the reality.

Nice post, quite lovely and I hope it does indeed help someone as it well might. For me, thank you for trying.

P

Originally posted by pheonix358
reply to post by Manula

 

And then you wake in the middle of the night, uncontrolled frightening and violent emotions ravishing your mind, body and soul. Your body in full fight or flight response due to a foul nightmare that at the moment of waking slips from your mind.

You want me to do what?

Between your post and mine you may get a feel for the theory and the reality.

Nice post, quite lovely and I hope it does indeed help someone as it well might. For me, thank you for trying.

P

I agree!
This is not a 'riddle' to me....it is a hypothetical situation.
I am able to control how I react on the outside (to verbal attacks, judgement, etc.)...but NOT how I feel on the inside.
I am able to have empathy/compassion for the person making the attack/judgement....but NOT their actions.
I am even able to forgive someone for causing me pain...but NOT forget.
As a person who has had much abuse inflicted upon her (starting at an early age when I was vulnerable, dependent and trusting)....I am NOT able to love the feelings that accompany such trauma....even though I loved the people who hurt me.
As stated in the above quote....thank you for trying.
jacygirl

reply to post by jacygirl


Your Avatar is a representation of yourself. I like it. Well done. We both needed a dragon protector when we were little.

P

ok... so im not the only one that can't find the riddle....

reply to post by Akragon


It is similar to trying to get you to give your child self a big continuous hug to try and make you feel better about your childhood. It may work in some limited circumstances but logic tends to get in the way. Cognition often interferes with behavioral type therapies which is why, for some people, you can't use the two together. It is nice when you can but one size never fits all.

P

reply to post by pheonix358


Thank you Pheonix for your kind words.
How truly sad that we, as small children...needed some mythical beast to protect us from those who were entrusted with our care and well-being!
Later in life I had a husband (a man that I loved)...who gave me a permanent back injury. I no longer love the man...and I certainly do not love the 24/7 pain that I now live with.
jacygirl

Originally posted by jacygirl
I no longer love the man...and I certainly do not love the 24/7 pain that I now live with.
jacygirl

Ouch! That one made me flinch. Tussilago farfara tea would supposedly alleviate the pain in these case. They are quite common where I live in Quebec. Here's what it looks like (wiki):



Not to confuse with dandelions, whose leaf are BTW edible.


reply to post by Manula

OP, these thought experiments are more easily said than done. For instance, I could tell you: Try to jump 1 inch from the ground. You can do that, right? Then I say to you, jump 6 inches from the ground. You can still do this. Then jump 1 feet. Still possible. Then 2 feet. Still possible. But following that logic, if you can jump 1, 2, 3,... feet, you could theoretically jump thousands of feet, even up to the Moon or Andromeda: 1, 2, 3, ...10,000, 20,000, etc.

At one point, a thought experiment is opposed to practicality.

Sure, it is theoretically possible to love as you fear. but when fear emotion is fired, it's still the first emotion to reach you conscious, well before you can think of loving it.

Originally posted by Akragon
ok... so im not the only one that can't find the riddle....

Well it's not a riddle, it's a thought experiment. An interesting one, but still a thought experiment nevertheless.

In lieu of a riddle, have a metaphor.

An old Grandfather said to his grandson, who came to him with anger at a friend who had done him an injustice:

“”Let me tell you a story…
I too, at times, have felt a great hate for those that have taken so much, with no sorrow for what they do.

But hate wears you down, and does not hurt your enemy. It is like taking poison and wishing your enemy would die.
I have struggled with these feelings many times.”"

He continued: “”It is as if there are two wolves inside me.
One is good and does no harm. He lives in harmony with all around him, and does not take offense when no offense was intended. He will only fight when it is right to do so, and in the right way.

But the other wolf, ah! He is full of anger. The littlest thing will set him into a fit of temper. He fights everyone, all the time, for no reason. He cannot think because his anger and hate are so great. It is helpless anger,for his anger will change nothing.

Sometimes, it is hard to live with these two wolves inside me, for both of them try to dominate my spirit.”"

The boy looked intently into his Grandfather’s eyes and asked: “”Which one wins, Grandfather?”"

The Grandfather smiled and quietly said: “”The one I feed.”"

reply to post by swan001


Thank you Swan001....after stopping all prescribed pain medication, I am now looking at natural alternatives. I will definitely inquire about this tea....much appreciated!

Winofiend....such a good story/fable...too bad so many people are not conscious enough to know which wolf they are feeding!

jacygirl

reply to post by Manula


There is also something else just as powerful as this. Sincere curiosity.

I know personally, that if I step back from my negative emotions/feelings and look at them as if they are new, curious things, they lose their ability to be so powerful. It's when I struggle against them, that they are powerful and dangerous.

I make room to explore them and suddenly what was an overwhelming inability to cope with it, the struggle to fight a force so strong, becomes a passive moment.

But the mind is a powerful enemy when you let it run riot. And sometimes it is seemingly impossible to allow that room to examine the curious states that create overwhelming sensations.. but I try..

Personally, I know it was the change in how I think that saved my life.

reply to post by jacygirl




If it were simple, we'd be a strange creature. And I think it takes some people, like me for instance, a long time to realise how we were instinctively feeding the wrong wolf..

Ahh well better late than never

Idk, OP.
Why is a raven like a writing desk?

(Solve your own damn riddles.)



Lol.

jk.

I enjoyed your answers, but hey why don't you try it and then comment.

Next time your old fear comes try smiling at him and say: welcome, i love you, i no longer reject you, please stay as long as you like.

Try it and then comment.

reply to post by Manula
I appreciate something about your approach in terms of rather than reacting to these emotions, simply embrace them or love them. This approach is certainly better than allowing these emotions to define who we actually are by reacting negatively to them and thereby giving them more attention, and feeding them more energy.

However, your approach is still giving them energy and attention, even if it is full of love and potentially healing. A simpler, more realistic and direct approach in my view, is to simply notice these emotions for what they are - prior reactions to events that we were hurt or insulted by. Such simple noticing of them does not feed them any energy/attention, positive or negative, and so they are more likely to be released and forgotten.

We "become" what we give attention and energy to.

We are not these emotions - they simply arise in the body-mind complex and can be noticed like a bad stomach ache - not pleasant, even possibly very unpleasant, but not having to define us for who we actually are. However, who we actually are is not the subject of this thread, I assume.

reply to post by bb23108


I get you.
But i rather love my emotions, positive and negative, than just be neutrally aware.

reply to post by Manula

Love your hate, love your fear, love your depression, love your low self-esteem, love it all.

Self-hypnosis is a helluva drug.

reply to post by DeReK DaRkLy


its not hypnosis its unconditional love for all which includes positive and negative, yin and yang etc etc

As long as you fear fear, it will never leave you alone

You have nothing to fear but fear itself

reply to post by Manula

Originally posted by Manula
But i rather love my emotions, positive and negative, than just be neutrally aware.

You love "hate" or unlove? How is it possible to love "unlove"?

And why would you want the separative emotional states of hate, depression, etc., to continue?