How Do You Feel?
by Guy Spiro

"How do you feel?" is a question that can be asked on different levels. Most often it is a polite query, not particularly sincere, asked as a greeting. Other times, it is asked in earnest, as when one really cares about the other person. Over the years, I have come to appreciate the importance of how one feels in ways I did not anticipate when I was younger.

The first thing I would communicate is that how we feel is not outside of our control or responsibility. All too many people behave as if their feelings are always in response to outside stimuli and that they have no control over them. This is an error that must be recognized and overcome if a person is ever to become whole. We can and must learn to replace habitual negative emotions with positive ones. It is a choice that with some effort we can all learn to make.

The emotional level has, by and large, been the most neglected. We place a premium on mental development and in recent times we have been more and more obsessed with our physical shape - but the emotions, we have paid very little attention to. As more and more people are realizing, however, it is our feelings rather than our thoughts that have the greatest impact on our immediate surroundings, in our lives and on the world at large.

The level of thought is at a higher vibration than emotion and is therefore somewhat insulated from the physical. Thought precedes action but it moves through the level of emotion before it can reach the physical. Thought can drive one crazy, but the emotions can make you physically ill and bring about all of the undesirable conditions you can imagine in life. The emotional level is next to the physical and has a direct impact upon it. Ignoring the emotions has been an error of the worst kind.

"Don't worry, be happy" may be simplistic, but it is true. Jesus said, "Birds of a feather flock together." What He meant was that like attracts like. What we think is important. How we feel is essential. The positive feelings of love, joy, appreciation and gratitude can be cultivated consciously. These are treasures piled up in heaven. Jesus also said, "To they who have, more will be added; to those who have not, more will be taken away."

How do you feel?

Next Article