We all have an emotional rhythm that is personalized to what we have learned growing up. Although the feelings we experience when faced with certain events are universal in nature (sadness when grieving, anger when unjustified, fear when threatened), the way we process those feelings are very much our own. Some people are able to recognize their emotions quite easily and begin the process of them right away, others may struggle by pushing the emotions away or having the sense that they don’t have access to them. In any case, our emotional rhythm (healthy or not) likes to keep a steady beat.
We find comfort in what is familiar; change likes to bring in what is foreign. We find comfort in what is known; change partners up with uncertainty. In other words, change likes to disrupt our emotional rhythm. When we experience change, it comes with transition – and all transitions bring about some uncertainty. When our emotional rhythm feels off course, we can hesitate to move forward, we stall the inevitable, we linger in our comfort zone and attempt to put it off.
Recognizing that change disrupts our emotional rhythm is the first step in giving ourselves permission to accept what is happening in our lives. It also allows us to move with the emotional rhythm and not against it; we can stay on track, planning for the hills and valleys of an otherwise steady journey. It allows us to accept, to plan, to focus on what is front of us. Change will disrupt our emotional rhythm; however we have the ability to give it enough room to re-set itself, gathering steam as we forge ahead.
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