If we put all our energy into positive thinking, what are we to do with our feelings that are not so positive?

I try to be a positive thinker, but sometimes I can confuse my desire to think positively with my need to deny other negative feelings. Have you ever felt sad or angry about something and then buried the feeling deep inside of you because you believe that it’s best to look on the bright side of life?

This happens because we are told that it is proper to be happy, and that we need to think positively all the time. Especially as Christians we are told to turn the other cheek, and that everything will be okay as long as we pray about it.

Now, I’m not saying that we should hold on to the negative feelings that cause discomfort or pain.  We need to let them go, but before we let them go I believe that  it’s important to let go of these feelings after we recognize them, name them and deal with them in a proper way.

All of our feelings are important, the happy and positive ones as well as the sad, angry and hurtful ones.  All of our feelings; need to be acknowledged and looked at before we can release them. To deny feelings is to say that there are certain parts of us that do not have value, that there are certain parts of ourselves, our thoughts and our ideas that are not important.  But God says we are all important, that every hair on our head is important and the ideas inside of our head are important as well.

Throughout the Bible we read stories of people expressing to God their inner most thoughts and feelings and God accepts them all.  God accepts us all so we can accept all of our feelings no matter what they are.

Accepting and acknowledging our feelings is the first step to gaining control over them, then we have the power to deal with them and to work with them in a helpful and healthy way.  If we deny and repress them we are sure to give them control over us.