@NiveusLepus @Lizzz @LnzyHou @wolfwoman @poemblaze I don't believe _any_ emotion exists for no reason. We have the ability to feel the range of emotions we do because they do something for us.

If we just try to chop off and shut down the ones we don't like, that just makes us _bad_ at them.

We have to process, understand, even confront our emotions, so that we choose right actions, and are not overwhelmed by emotions we have stunted and abused.

@AskTheDevil @Lizzz @LnzyHou @wolfwoman @poemblaze Denial is like leaving a splinter in your hide. It will fester and rot, causing more damage

In my last few months visiting the east coast, I've had to do a lot of driving, and the drivers there can be frightening for me

I've been using those moments of being cut off, or buzzed past at 100mph as opportunities to practice re framing

I realized, sitting deeply with it, that all those reactions I was having was out a desire for us to be safe.

@AskTheDevil @Lizzz @LnzyHou @wolfwoman @poemblaze

When I realized that and the source of my anxiety, I gained some power over my reactions.

Over time I've gotten into the habit that when I get cut off, or flipped off, or buzzed past, I will say. "Be safe my friend." or "I hope you find a reason for happiness today"

I'm still responding to the source, but at a different emotional angle and its making a difference for me. I am transforming my suffering.

@AskTheDevil @Lizzz @LnzyHou @wolfwoman @poemblaze

The thing is, I don't know why those people are driving that way. I don't know what they've been through. I don't know their pain, or their challenges.

As @Vozy says maybe they're rushing to the hospital because their child is in the er. We just don't know.

That doesn't give them license to be cruel, or unsafe, but it does give me an opportunity to practice compassion.

We simply don't know what's going on inside a person.

@NiveusLepus @AskTheDevil @Lizzz @LnzyHou @poemblaze @Vozy

I'm going to interject a bit of silliness here, but it supports the belief that we don't know what is happening in someone else's life.

My stepson used to laugh whenever he saw one of those ginormous, fancy pickups and say, "Sorry about your small penis!"

My take on the racing squads here, not the everyday horrible drivers, is they are compensating for something.

@NiveusLepus @AskTheDevil @Lizzz @LnzyHou @poemblaze

Oh hell yes, Becca! Drivers out here are CRAZY. Especially the racing squads. Evil.

@wolfwoman @AskTheDevil @Lizzz @LnzyHou @poemblaze

They present me with many opportunities to practice!

@AskTheDevil @NiveusLepus @Lizzz @LnzyHou @poemblaze Agreed. I like to think what I'm doing is *managing* emotions in the sense of choosing what my actions are when I feel them.

I just really truly don't have any idea what hate feels like.