For those of you who know me personally, you know that I am the wife of a federal EPA scientist. My family has been impacted in a big way by the federal government shutdown. I think it's alright to feel angry, frustrated, and disappointed with our federal government right now. It is disappointing to realize that winning a political battle between conflicting ideologies has become the focus of our Congress, when their job should be to uphold the will of the majority while protecting the rights of the minorty.
I allow myself to have the feelings of anger and such as they come. Then, I let them go. I have said before that it is important to just feel and let go because it prevents us from keeping emotions bottled up inside our bodies.
Remember that giving yourself permission to feel how you feel is different than being indulgent. Indulgence in an emotion like anger involves doing things like replaying the events over and over in your mind as you feel your blood boil with rage. Indulgence is also repeatedly telling the same angry tale. If you need to vent, that's fine. Just make sure that you are releasing the emotion rather than feeding it. If you tell your friend about something that makes you feel angry and at the end you feel better, that is releasing. If you end up feeling newly enraged, that is indulging.
Within all of this frustration, I think that the American people have a huge opportunity. This government shutdown brings to light deficiencies in our government and issues that need to be fixed through the democratic process. We tend to forget these issues when life returns back to normal.
My hope is that the majority of Americans will take this shutdown as an opportunity to become agents of positive change. I have taken the shutdown as a reminder that we need to build stronger communities. Even when the government fails us, we can all take care of one another.
I allow myself to have the feelings of anger and such as they come. Then, I let them go. I have said before that it is important to just feel and let go because it prevents us from keeping emotions bottled up inside our bodies.
Remember that giving yourself permission to feel how you feel is different than being indulgent. Indulgence in an emotion like anger involves doing things like replaying the events over and over in your mind as you feel your blood boil with rage. Indulgence is also repeatedly telling the same angry tale. If you need to vent, that's fine. Just make sure that you are releasing the emotion rather than feeding it. If you tell your friend about something that makes you feel angry and at the end you feel better, that is releasing. If you end up feeling newly enraged, that is indulging.
Within all of this frustration, I think that the American people have a huge opportunity. This government shutdown brings to light deficiencies in our government and issues that need to be fixed through the democratic process. We tend to forget these issues when life returns back to normal.
My hope is that the majority of Americans will take this shutdown as an opportunity to become agents of positive change. I have taken the shutdown as a reminder that we need to build stronger communities. Even when the government fails us, we can all take care of one another.