Feelings*

My feelings don’t always tell me what is really going on in the outside world.  I have learned, at times, to tell the difference.  For instance, I may be feeling fear.  My spiritual progress on a good day, tells me, “I am afraid,”. But I don’t have to act on this feeling.  I pause and often find out that whatever I seem to be afraid of, is not really dangerous or life-threatening.  So why might I be feeling fearful?  Often it is because I am not going to get what I want, or am going to lose what I have.  In these situations it is all about me and my universe.  In these fearful moments described, I am the center of my universe, grabbing or holding on to stuff.  As someone told me, “Why try to be the center of the universe?  It is a very crowded place.”  Yes, we who are into self are not unique.