E is for Emotions

I wasn't going to write this blog with this subject's focus. I was going to tell you about Epictetus instead. 

But as I sat typing while listening to electronic ocean waves crashing, I decided to stick with my original plan. Please look Epictetus' work up though. It's good stuff!

Yesterday I was at BB&B perusing the shampoo and bubble bath aisles, opening bottles and sniffing happily as I went. After about the 5^th sampling, one of them smelled like him. The {gasp!} dreaded him. 

Mr. X.

In the span of a millisecond, I was verging on tears. 

There I was, not half an hour prior, thinking about how I am doing so well with this huge life change- without him. One smell, quasi-reminiscent of his natural smell- and I almost let myself slip into utter despair, stewing in those intensely charged thoughts.

But I didn't.

I knew in that teensy tiny fraction of time- if I let one entire minute go by emoting over that failed relationship, lingering on my feelings for him, I would undo some healthy healing progress.

I said STOP!

(To my thoughts, that is...)

What did I do then?

I opened up, bottle after bottle of yummy, cheery, high-noted fragrances, and brought my Self back to center. 

I repeated my mantra, whatever it was at that moment.

Mammalian's sense of smell is the deepest of all senses. It is the most developed (especially if you are a bear or a bloodhound!) and lasts far longer than sight or hearing. Scent therapy is even used with [human] geriatric patients in memory health.

So it is of no wonder that I almost descended into the abyss from a sniff or two.

 Duh! 

It is in the mind that the emotions develop into something positive or negative. 

Sure, a quick burst of volatile organic compounds meshed with a receptor neuron or two in my nasal cavity and my limbic system went on red alert! 

I “get” the science, but my reaction was so much more than what can be reduced to a laboratory and a white coat.

Other than from triggers like scent, sound and visuals, it is from deep within us that emotions begin. Both conscious and unconscious thoughts tumbling around in our heads become the basis of a complex emotional world. Like the enzymes which combine to form proteins, these thoughts are linked to bigger things than when they are solo. Thoughts can snowball into unmanageable messes which become emotional minefields. 

And unless you are a bliss addict, these may lean toward the neutral to icky emotions.

Each emotion serves a purpose. They inform us of our state of Be-ing. Both pleasant and unpleasant emotions help us grow as individuals and show us where we need to adapt and change. 

 You too can be the fearless brain-tamer! 

It is through intentionally monitoring my mind that I am getting a grip on my spectrum of emotions. 

I do not seek to control my having emotions, yet I seek to control my reactions to them. 

 Want to feel more peaceful? 

 Mind your mind,

all the time!