Aug 17, 2020 by Renee Linnell

I don’t think we’re supposed to be one thing. I think we’re dynamic Beings of Light that are supposed to express whatever moves through us. The way children do. 

I was watching a friend’s 14-month-old child yesterday. He was toddling around the airport as happy as could be. Then he discovered a piece of trash on the floor; the top to a plastic ramekin that probably held ketchup. He put it in his mouth and his mother came running and took it out of his mouth, then took it away. Of course, right? You don’t want your child chewing on trash.

But, then his face got all red and squishy and began to contort, he twisted down onto the ground into a heap and began to scream and cry. I thought maybe he had hot sauce in his mouth and I got scared for a second. But, his mom said it was his newest thing, that when he doesn’t get his way he throws himself on the ground and has a tantrum. She wasn’t through the sentence before he was up and happy and toddling around again. It cracked me up.

And I realized in that moment what masters of emotions children are. They are wide open and they let all the emotions flow through them. So the great joy at finding the trash comes, the excitement and discovery of tasting it happens, the intense sadness and frustration and anger happens when it gets taken away, and then, bam, the joy is back. 

This is how we are supposed to live. I swear! It must be! We are supposed to be wide open and allow life to move through us.

Yes, I can hear you saying, well the world would be even more chaotic if adults had temper tantrums (many of them do), but I believe the definition of being adult, at least emotionally, is that you stop making life all about yourself and you start to want to be kind and generous and open with others. Which means the need to get your way softens. Which means you are aware after a few decades in a human body, that life is unpredictable and that the downs come with the ups. So, rather than have a temper tantrum, or stuff down the dark emotions which is worse, you acknowledge that you feel them and you also know they will pass.

Now, when I feel myself upset about something, I stop and I say to myself, often out loud, "Honey, feel the emotion. Let it move through. Cry if you must." I allow myself to cry. It usually only lasts 90 seconds (the same amount of time children often take to move intense emotion through), and then I usually follow with a kind uplifting sentence, often out loud. Something like, "Ok, My Love, you have learned and now you never have to do that again" (if I am upset because of a mistake I made) or "Ok, Sweet Girl, you know The Universe is always looking out for you so if this (whatever it is) is not working out, it is only because something better is on its way..." 

My point is: I am now very careful to not hold onto dark or sad emotion; I move it through the way children do. No need to overreact. And also no need to store it inside. This is the world we live in. A world of dichotomy. And if we are truly living we are supposed to feel it all. We will feel it all. The darker emotions are as important as the lighter ones. Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could remember what we knew as children? And live with the Freedom that wisdom entails? 

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