Life is overwhelming at times, isn’t it? Our feelings are overwhelming… Today, I was thrown back into my childhood as my mom, Steve (my husband), and I did a 5K walk in remembrance of my cousin, Doug Behme, who lost his life a year ago in a tragic explosion.
The path of the walk took us right through the neighborhood where I lived until age 13. Talk about memory lane! I saw my 5th grade teacher, Mrs. Shrum, the prior homes of my childhood friends, and some very dear old friends who I haven’t seen in many years. And when I got home, I watched a video on Facebook created in 1969 (my birth year) by Mister Rogers. He was appealing to the Senate to get funding for public television.
This video stirred my emotions, and I can strongly sense my little girl within, who when growing up felt out of control emotionally. She also felt responsible to try to keep the peace in our tense home, where I witnessed my dad abusing my mom. Have you considered or thought about how important it is to help our children process their emotions, especially our own inner child?
Most of us aren’t taught how to handle overwhelming emotions; instead, we’re taught to avoid these feelings in the hopes they will just go away. We are taught that anger and fear are “bad.” Problem is that feelings repressed never die; in fact, that’s a title of a book.
What I loved about Mister Rogers is that he really communicated with children and helped them to see their value and know that their feelings were okay. Here is an excerpt from this 1969 video. Please note how his words make your inner child feel.
“At the end of every show I’d tell the children, ‘You’ve made this day a special day, just by being
you. There’s no person in the whole world like you, and I like you just the way you are.’
I feel that if we in public television can only make it clear that feelings are mentionable and
manageable, we will have done a great service for mental health.
For 15 years I’ve tried to present a meaningful expression of care. Here are the words to one of the songs that I feel are very important. This has to do with that good feeling of control which children need to know is there. ‘What do you do with the mad that you feel? When you feel so mad you could bite.
When the whole world seems so wrong, and nothing you do seems very right. What do you do? Do you
punch a bag? Do you pound some clay or some dough? Do you round up friends for a game of tag or see how fast you go? It’s great to be able to stop when you’ve planned the thing that’s wrong. And be able to do something else instead and think this song: I can stop when I want to.
Can stop when I wish. Can stop, stop, stop anytime. And what a good feeling to feel like this…and know that the feeling is really mine. Know that there’s something deep inside that helps us become what we can. For a girl can be someday a lady and a boy can be someday a man.”
Watch the six minute video clip here.
We teach what Mister Rogers taught, to help us grown adults love and accept our hurt little inner
children who simply wants to be loved, valued and understood. And the way we do that is to teach
about painful feelings, that they’re okay, that we’re okay with them.
That we can STOP and make a different choice that aligns with becoming our best self and feeling in control. In order to squash overwhelm in its tracks, we need a coping mechanism to help us feel in control. We are human—we feel—and we’re supposed to. Isn’t it time to stop beating ourselves up for our very emotional nature and wanting to get rid of these aspects of ourselves?
What if we could accept ourselves and our vulnerable inner parts, and by so doing, make a different choice, take a different action, that leads us forward to happiness and fulfillment? It IS possible, I promise! Angie
PS: What is the next step?
Register Now for our next free workshop in which I’ll teach a wonderful tool that can put you on the path to happiness, peace, and fulfillment.
