It’s so strange how my thoughts and feelings are so often disconnected. Growing up, feelings got me in so much trouble that I stuffed them a lot, which worked for awhile until I found myself sometimes in a perpetual state of rage.
The program has given me the gift of permission to feel my feelings and that’s a wonderful thing. But sometimes I feel feelings and don’t understand what they are about. I have to stop and think about what’s been going on to see if the feelings are connected to something. I also have attacks of depression, so sometimes the feelings really aren’t connected to anything but just a biological condition, and I can take comfort in knowing the attack will pass and all will be fine again.
It’s dismaying to discover that there really is a reason for a particular feeling, but to not feel the connection. Not sure if this is coming across clearly or not.
I was sitting at my desk just doing my work when a spasm of sadness hit me so hard it shook me. I had to stop and think, What happened today? Of course, today is the day I found out that my favorite aunt had passed away in the night. When I first got the news, I was sad, but I didn’t seem to feel the impact I expected. I didn’t know what to make of it but accepted it and carried on with my day. It wasn’t in my mind when this feeling hit me, and I had to go find this fact again.
This process makes me feel a bit inhuman and it is necessary to refrain from judging. Some of my tools are broken. I wouldn’t be in a program if I functioned correctly. It’s okay to accept that things are a little disconnected.
What’s heartening is that I’m actually feeling, even if delayed, even if puzzling, my feelings. It means there is progress.
I’m going to miss my aunt, and it’s shocking and sad to lose her, and to lose her so suddenly. I can pray for her and hope she is in the bosom of her own Higher Power. I can thank my Higher Power for these new abilities, for making me more human, a few inches at a time.