Breathe Magazine Issue 012 Back Issue

Anger, fear, guilt. Emotions can bubble under for years (or spill over
in seconds) with devastating effect. Take our tricky trio here. They
are pernicious customers who can limit life choices, inhibit personal
enjoyment and stifle relationships.
Why is it, for instance, that so many people feel bad when they have
no transgressions for which to answer? Their only crime, as they see it,
might be to allow themselves an extra 10 minutes in bed of a morning
or half an hour’s meditation at night. Hardly deserving of a life sentence
yet that’s what is meted out when guilt, fear and anger are allowed to do
their worst.
But there are ways to escape the tyrannical grasp of this emotional
triumvirate and stop handing down self-imposed punishments. Used
constructively and carefully, anger has the power to be a catalyst for
change and to liberate and heal, while fear can be turned on its head
and transformed into excitement. It’s not easy and it requires self-belief
but there is a choice when approaching the new or challenging as well
as an opportunity to use fear’s nervous energy to see beyond what’s
comfortable and safe.
Imagine what might be waiting on the other side… creative pastimes
and careers, long written-off childhood passions, happiness in one’s
own company. And more self-belief and confidence. Enough confidence,
perhaps, to eat out alone, to catch a movie by oneself or even go on
holiday unencumbered by other people’s expectations and demands,
blissfully pursuing a solo agenda. Imagine it all. And let go of the guilt.