Even though we try exceedingly hard to concentrate on living a positive and jubilant life, it is perfectly normal to run into situations that spring forth negative emotions within us. What are these? Where do they come from? Why do they feel like the rug has been suddenly pulled up from under us? Below, I have outlined the cause of these emotions and how to soften the experiences surrounding them. The best part is, negative emotions are profoundly and emphatically a good thing!
The Factory Floor
I’m going to use an analogy from the spiritual teacher, Bashar, to explain negative emotions.
Imagine you are the owner of a factory and enter into the factory floor using the catwalk from above. When you look down, you see lots of workers on each side of the floor. On one side the workers develop and create your negative feelings and on the other side, the workers create your positive feelings.
Essentially, these workers are working to reaffirm either your negative or positive belief systems. They work hard to make sure you don’t realize you can change your beliefs.
The negative workers demonstrate to you that the unknown is scary and dangerous. Often, they instill feelings of fear and dread when you put your attention towards making a change toward something more exciting in your life. The positive workers do the same when you define the unknown as a joyful, exuberant experience. So by assuming the definition of the belief is either negative or positive, those appropriate feelings supersede.
Since this is your factory, you are the only one that is in control of the definitions you create. You control how many positive and negative workers there are in the factory. If you desire to experience the feelings of only positivity, then you can fire the negative workers, so they can’t instigate those negative feelings ever again.
The Master Key
The master key is that you always know that beliefs can be changed. In fact, these negative feelings occur because we have not kicked out all the negative definitions we are holding onto because of a hidden belief.
Here is where our beliefs get tricky. When we aren’t able to identify the belief that is causing the negative emotions. Let’s say you are feeling negative feelings because you don’t believe you can attract more money. You have gone through all of your childhood learnings, jealousy, guilt, scarcity, sadness, all the negative emotions you can possibly think of to identify what you are still holding onto that is preventing a large sum of money from falling into your lap.
If you find yourself hesitant to move in the direction of your highest excitement, even for a second, you need to search for that belief. You need to walk the catwalk of the factory and look for the person still working, hiding in a corner. Find them and tell them to go home.
Your reality all depends on what you want to focus on. You can use this analogy of the factory floor to stop the cycle of reinforcement of negativity. Because everything that everyone experiences are neutral. It is we who define it to be positive or negative. Once you accept that you are the one that actually has all the control and had it the entire time, you can choose to catapult yourself into positive feelings where you will attract more money.
Determiners of Change
The idea of change is not that the outer world has changed. It is that we respond differently to it, even if it looks the same. For example, if you have ever been part of a very painful breakup with another person, you can understand how consuming the negative emotions around it can be during the breakup process. For a time, these negative feelings surround everything to do with this other person. However, after you let go of the definitions behind that breakup and completely and totally form new definitions and beliefs for yourself, then it doesn’t bother you in the slightest if you run into that person again. Congratulations, you have successfully reshaped your negative definitions, and you have made a change.
If you find yourself surprised by the negative feelings that occur within you when you see that person again, this is incredibly valuable! You have just uncovered a belief that was preventing you from changing. Our egos will want us to deny that we feel anything at all, so it is common to try to bury the feelings altogether. If only this actually worked.
You have truly changed when you don’t care if the negative situation happens again. Because you know beyond a shadow of a doubt that you would always get a positive effect from what was happening if the situation occurred again. This is powerful and the only way to make a genuine change in our lives.
Negative Feelings are Priceless
When you move towards your highest excitement, you will not experience negativity. Period.
Our physical reality is only the product of how we define it. And if we define it positively, we will only get a positive result from it. Regardless if someone else has a negative intention behind it or not. Their definition doesn’t matter.
Pay attention to your thoughts, behaviors, and emotions. Because these feelings act as a compass. They show us there is something we believe to be true that is holding us back from expanding. When you engage in any kind of action, pay attention to how you are feeling. The awareness of what you now understand is causing the negative belief is what frees you. If you push it down and deny it, it will only come back stronger next time.
The way to locate these factory workers and the source of these negative beliefs, ask yourself the following question:
What is the worst thing that can happen if I choose my highest excitement?
Because somewhere deep down in the depths of our subconscious, we have attached a negative belief onto that situation or circumstance.
Get in touch with your fears! You can’t feel emotions unless you already have a definition of them. Fear is an emotion generated by definitions. Therefore, you can’t have a feeling without defining it to be true first.
This is a moment to face all the negative belief systems that are going on inside you right now. You are always carrying this around in some form or another all the time. This is a wonderful opportunity to dive deeper and get rid of the beliefs that have been holding you back from the life you really want to live.
The bottom line is, if the definitions you truly prefer don’t completely blow you over with an absolute conviction that what you currently are experiencing is what you prefer, then something is filtering your perspective of that. It always comes down to something you have been taught to believe is true. Figure out what that belief is, and then decide what is true for yourself instead.
If you want to understand more about the importance of changing your belief systems, check out my post here on the worthwhile ability to Think Again.