The Answer to How to Handle Your Anger & Sadness Regarding Oil Gushing into the Gulf
28 Jun 2010, by in StressI have heard how furious and sad people are at what has now been going on for months in the Gulf of Mexico. Are you one of them – furious at BP and furious at the U.S. government’s handling of the situation? I am one of them too, which is why this blog is for both me and you.
You (and I) vent to others the despair and sickening feeling that you feel, but in the end you cannot stop the oil leak. You are left not knowing what to do with the anger and sadness you feel toward this tragedy. What bothers me is that along with this anger and sadness is a sense of hopelessness that there is nothing you can do. This simply is not true!
Although you and I feel right blaming BP and the government for the mess our ecology is in, I know there is a deeper answer that is waiting for you and me to claim. You see I teach a process which is called F.E.E.L.: Feel Every Emotion as Love. I know it sounds like a philosophy for sensitive people or for those emotionally challenged, but it couldn’t be further from the truth. F.E.E.L. is a process that gives you empowering insight to what you are feeling. Because you are constantly feeling about everything throughout your day (whether you are conscious or not), understanding your feelings from this emotionally conscious level changes you and how you go about living your life.
The F.E.E.L. perspective teaches what anger is really about from an emotionally conscious level. Anger from this perspective is about owning your power. You see when you turn to BP and the U.S. government about your anger, psychotherapists like myself call that projecting. It is not that there isn’t merit to that anger you feel, it is just that it keeps you in the victim mode. When you are the victim, you don’t have power and cannot create changes because you have given away your power to the voice of your ego.
F.E.E.L. supports you to listen to the inner wisdom within you, which recognizes that your feelings are present out of love to guide you back to your inner truth. You are right to be saddened and angry at the impact on the land and sea, the animals and the chemicals that are being used which will eventually show up in our food chain, causing us health problems. Your sadness is present to get really clear that you, and I – let’s face it pretty much everyone takes forgranted some aspect of our Earth and her natural resources. Can you use your sadness to get clear as to how you can honor the Earth even more?
Your anger is present to support you to claim back your power and make changes for and within you. From this level of understanding, your anger is not about revenge or blame. Those forms of anger are from the ego. Your anger from an emotional consciousness perspective supports you to ignite your power and passion to really look at you and where you fall in the picture.
Maybe you can begin with the plastic you waste. Have you used the power of your voice to demand that we get charged a sizable sum when you forget your grocery bags or does that sound too inconvenient? Do you recognize or blow off your part of the oil dependency cycle that we are in?
Seeing yourself in this light allows you to see how much more similar you and I are to BP and the U.S. government in not taking full responsibility. The government and BP are a mirror to how we don’t yet hold ourselves fully accountable either. To make the shift happen, begin with you!
There used to be a chosen few who innately knew how to use their negative feelings such as anger, sadness and frustration and use them to empower them. These are the leaders such as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela and Gandhi to name a few.
We can no longer afford to only have a chosen few act from an emotionally conscious level. You too are being called to Feel Every Emotion as Love so you can live from an empowered state toward all aspects of life. This Gulf event is an awakening for all of us, myself included, in many ways.
No matter how much you are doing in regard to being environmentally conscious, I guarantee that if you feel sadness or anger that there is more responsibility that you can claim. This isn’t about being the perfect environmentalist rather this is about your essence yearning for you to take another step toward protecting our Earth. Be clear if and when you are the victim because then your ego is getting the best of you. Now is the time to tap into the potential that waits within, which only you can claim!
I would LOVE to hear your ideas about one or two steps you have already taken. It is very likely that a step that you have already done is a prime example of what someone else can do next! Also, please share one more step that you are willing to commit to now and set a date of when it will be completed.
Remember it is your ego that would have you believe that your actions are insignificant. Trust me when I say that your feelings of anger and sadness will begin to shift the moment you beginning following where your essence wants to take you in regard to this situation and every other situation in your life.
Live Emotionally Conscious – Live Exceptionally Well,
PS: If you would like more support in seeing how your feelings can support you to further tap into your potential, check out my F.E.E.L. Virtual Mastery Program. In honor of celebrating freedom in all its forms, I would like to extend a $10 off discount for the first month of my F.E.E.L. Virtual Mastery Program. If you want to learn how your feelings can support you to tap into more of your potential go to www.MichelleBersell.com/feel, which is good until July 4th.
My big thing is bags! I am doing my best to eliminate using new bags. Instead, I reuse bags or use reusable containers. For instance, I save the plastic bags from bread to pick up my pup’s waste in the yard =)! Because I am so passionate about the bag issue, my next step is to write my local and state government about taking a more progressive stand regarding bags in stores. I commit to writing this letter by June 30th!
Hi Michelle – Thank you for this post. It’s really helpful and has made me realize that there are things I can do. Even if it’s something simple. I consider myself to be pretty eco-friendly-minded, but there are more things I can do. So now I’m bringing my re-useable cup when i go out for a tea! And I also am pouring gratitude into water, I was so thankful for the rain that I danced in it a few days ago, something I had not done since I was a kid. Do think you that the oil spill could be something that is happening for the good….sort of like waking us up to mother nature’s needs?
Yeah, dancing in the rain, I love it! Thanks for sharing Suzanne. As for this incident being a wake-up call, absolutely. That is why there is so much sadness regarding the incident. Your sadness is present in order to get clear about what is really going on. Thanks so much for sharing your feedback and ideas!
I like you was angry at BP and the government for doing nothing as millions of animals , fish and birds die, then I realized that it doesn’t really matter how this happened that we are all responsible and therefore we all need to take some action hopefully from a place of love. On the Spiritual level I have been sending little prayers throughout the day to the Gulf area and directing them to all of the creatures of the Gulf. On the physical side, I carry cloth bags with me all the time, I don’t buy plastic water bottles, I buy glass bottles which I recycle and refill from water from a home distiller. I drive a Prius which is dependent on oil but I do get more out of a tank than other cars. I walk errands when I can. I reuse my plastic garbage bags by putting the waste into the pick up can for as long as the bag holds up. As an artist I am now using a lot more recycled materials in my work.
Hi Maureen,
You got it! Your anger shifted because you took action! So glad you did and thanks for all you do to honor the Earth!
1. i’ve used 1/2 tank of gas in 4 weeks
2. i wont buy plastic containers again. as in, ever.
3. no petroleum based products an-y more, e.g., baby oil, et al
4. i pick up other people’s litter and dog shit (THAT should get me into heaven, or ahead of the reincarnation curve–something…)
5. i dont believe a word my government says. i dont believe they care about me, about us, i dont count on them to ever help me in crisis, i dont trust them, and i think the US of A is in the shitter big time. BP and big oil OWN us. that has been made abundantly clear. obama is the butler to BP. all presidents would be. them’s the rules. they just dont tell us, the little guy. it’s the matrix, baby.
Hi Jules,
Thanks for sharing and for picking up other people’s litter and even poop! My kids have grown up seeing their parents give others a lecture when we catch them littering and they look at it as one of the worse things a person can do. All these actions will make a difference, I am sure of it!
This indeed maybe a wake-up call. Water can be separated into hydrogen and oxygen, both combustible. I really don’t understand why this is not an option. Recyling of and plastic is valuable.
I’d like present another area for thought.
I understand in the US we are now using 410,094 tons of pesticides annually. The active ingredients in pesticides are almost all derived from petroleum. Oil! How much oil I don’t know.
Could we not each have our own organic vegetable garden? Any excess could be dried or canned and the containers recycled next year. This also has the added benefits of a better diet, excercise, and sun (vit. D).
Petroleum is also in almost all cosmetics, shampoos, soaps, laundary detergents and household cleaners.
There are also induction controls? I think that can be used on appliances that draw a lot of amps on startup that not only extends their life but also cuts electric consumption by half. I understand these are simple to install ( for those that know how, I don’t). Who couldn’t do with a smaller power bill? I doubt we can find few products that doesn’t contain petroleum.
We are like that frog that is put in warm water and slowly cooked alive…not realizing what is happening to us.
Great ideas and insight Lyn! Isn’t it incredible how much petroleum is used in so many different ways? And yes, so many other ways in which we need to be concerned, including pesticides! So glad you shared your thoughts!