美文原声

本期主题：Clear Your Mental Space 清理心灵的空间

本期音乐：Vivaldi Concerto in G, RV 532；清晨的芬芳

当你感到焦虑、紧张、愤怒，甚至沮丧、悲伤、痛苦时，你是怎么应对这些负面情绪的？

心灵就像一个房间，装满各种情绪，负面的情绪就像灰尘和垃圾，需要我们定期清理。如心灵作家张德芬所说，我深信当你把你的内在世界调整得很好的时候，你的外在世界就会自然而然变得很顺利。

Clear Your Mental Space

Think about the last time you felt a negative emotion---like stress, anger, or frustration. What was going through your mind as you were going through that negativity? Was your mind cluttered with thoughts? Or was it paralyzed, unable to think?

Allow that emotion to consume you. Allow yourself one minute to truly feel that emotion. Don't cheat yourself here. Take the entire minute---but only one minute---to do nothing else but feel that emotion.

Once you've allowed yourself to be totally immersed in the emotion and really fell it, you will be surprised to find that the emotion clears rather quickly.

This exercise seems simple---almost too simple. But, it is very effective. By allowing that negative emotion the space to be truly felt, you are dealing with the emotion rather than stuffing it down and trying not to feel it. You are actually taking away the power of the emotion by giving it the space and attention it needs. When you immerse yourself in the emotion, and realize that it is only emotion, it loses its control. You can clear your head and proceed with your task.

Try it. Next time you're in the middle of a negative emotion, give yourself the space to feel the emotion and see what happens. Keep a piece of paper with you that says the following:

This will remind you of the steps to the process. Remember; take the time you need to really immerse yourself in the emotion. Then, when you feel you've felt it enough, release it---really let go of it. You will be surprised at how quickly you can move on from a negative situation and get to what you really want to do!