Hello friend.
Settle in.
Feel the weight of your body as it meets the ground.
Your breath moves through you.
Steady and constant.
Now imagine a great dam.
Strong.
Holding back a fast body of water.
Your emotions are the water.
Sometimes still.
Sometimes turbulent.
The dam doesn't fight the water.
It holds it.
Directs and channels it.
And as Marcus Aurelius wrote,
You have the power over your mind,
Not outside events.
Realize this and you will find strength.
Bring attention to the emotional reservoir within you.
Is it calm?
Rising?
Or perhaps crashing against the walls?
You are not here to stop the water.
You are here to notice it.
Feel where emotions set in your body.
Tightness in the chest.
Heat in the face.
The heaviness.
Name it silently to yourself.
Let your awareness widen.
Holding the feeling without needing to change it.
Even the strongest dam develops cracks.
Stress.
Loss.
Frustration.
Small fractures where water seeps through.
That's not failure.
That's reality.
You see,
One way or the other,
Emotions will find their way out.
Some people ignore the cracks until the dam bursts.
While others examine them,
Allow the water to trickle,
And find a way to release it safely.
What small releases do you allow yourself?
Movement?
A deep breath?
Or perhaps a moment of stillness?
As Lao Tzu said,
Water is fluid,
Soft,
And yielding.
But water will wear away rock,
Which is rigid and cannot yield.
So rather than waiting for the flood,
Imagine opening the spillway.
A controlled release.
With each breath in,
Feel the tension.
With each breath out,
Visualize the water flowing in a way that serves you.
A conversation.
A creative outlet.
Or a mindful pause.
Emotions are energy.
Held too tightly,
They overwhelm.
Released with awareness,
They nourish.
Now see the water flowing beyond the dam.
A river moving forward.
No longer trapped.
No longer threatening.
Your emotions are not the enemy.
They are the force that shapes the landscape of your life.
So let Rumi remind you.
Try not to resist the changes that come your way.
Instead,
Let life live through you.
Sit in this space for a moment.
Breathing.
Watching the water move.
Begin to make your way back to the ground beneath you.
Allow movement to enter your body.
And as you move about your day,
You're awake.
Know that the dam stands steady and tall.
And the water moves with no fight at all.
But held too tight,
It starts to break.
In given space,
It finds its lake.
Emotions will rise and emotions will fall.
Not walls to fear,
But waves to call.
Breathe in,
My friend.
And let them be.
Guide the river out to the sea.
May your mind,
Your body,
And your spirit be abundant of peace today and every day.
Until next time.
Namaste.
