Can you feel it?

Can you feel it?………………..CAN YOU FEEL IT?

I started this journey being very intentional. I watched my words, what I was thinking, what I was listening to, what I watched on tv or social media and more. I was putting thought into every detail in my day. You will be surprised how often we just do, say, and react out of habit. Not being intentional in those moments can be detrimental to your relationships, your job, and even your life.

On this journey of self discovery, I find God having me do things that at the moment I don’t understand the why but in true God fashion he always reveals the why. I had no idea at the time of me paying attention to what I was thinking, listening to, watched, said and more; that God was going to have me be intentional with my emotions 😨

Have you ever sat in your emotions?

The first time God directed me to sit in my emotions, was after an argument with my husband; THE Kevin Bell. Now we all know family can hit nerves we didn’t even know we had, so naturally God would take a moment with my spouse to teach me a lesson.

After the argument that clearly I thought I was right about, God had me sit in my angered emotion. When I sit in my emotions here are some of the questions I ask myself:

What triggered you?

Why did that make you feel that way?

What would you like the desire outcome to be?

If you were to look at their perspective what are some ways you can understand even if you don’t agree?

How could this have been handled differently?

Needless to say, I circled back and apologized to Kevin. I told him I could’ve handled it better and I understood why he felt the way he felt.

Since I’ve been intentional with my emotions I notice:

1. I don’t sweat the small stuff.
2. Less stressful situations
3. Less anxiety
4. Clarity

While sitting in my emotions, I learned my stress and anxiety came from me always being in my head. I would constantly over think and stress about things that I have NO control over. God has been telling me for years, focus on the one thing you have control of and that’s your emotions. There are things that I’m going through (specifically financially – made some really poor decisions, but that’s another topic for another day) that ONLY GOD can fix it. I’m talking 5 loaves and two fish type of miracle from the Heavens above. So why am I sticking my nose in grown folks business? God doesn’t need my help. The only thing God needs me to do, is do what God says and move out the way. Understanding my emotions allows me to give it back to God quicker and faster so I can keep doing what I need to do, and not try to stress out and have my negative emotions take control and make more of a mess that I already made.

Here are the steps I take to give my problems back to the grand fixer.

1. I remind myself God did not give us the spirit of fear, nor does he want us to be stressed or anxious over anything. Philippians 4:6-7 & 2 Timothy 1:7
2. I remind myself if I feel stressed, anxious, fearful then my eyes are not on God, and If my eyes are not fixated on God then I need to pray to turn my eyes and heart to him.
3. I tell God my desired outcome. Being very intentional with my words, while letting God know I’m making room for him to handle the situation as he sees fit. Jeremiah 29:11
4. I ask myself what can I do to fix the situation? (10 out of 10 times it’s nothing.) I have to remind myself there is nothing I can do so give it to God and walk away. Matthew 6:25-34
5. I envision and speak life into my desire outcome coming true. Matthew 17:20-21.
6. I start thanking God in advance, I know it’s going to work out in my favor regardless. God’s power has no limits. Romans 8:28 Mark 11:24

Now when something arises and it takes me a long time (negative emotions only get 15 min with me) to shake it off, I just go old school and call out to God. I get real and rugged with my emotions, being honest speaking from the heart. Telling God this matter is too heavy for me to hand over to you so I need you to take it off of me. I know people like to tip toe around God and their feelings, but once I learned God knows and sees all ANYWAY that radically changed my prayer life. Now I give it to God straight no chaser, and that typically allows me to release my problem back into his unchanging hands.

I challenge you to start paying more attention to your emotions. Ask yourself questions in those moments of stress, anxiety, fear. What can you do? If nothing give it to God and mind your business, your mental health will thank you.