The human mind can be filled with many emotions at once. Sometimes emotions that play well with each other, sometimes emotions that are at war with each other.
The term bittersweet perhaps the most common manifestation of this. Feeling something while feeling something almost as strongly.
Emotions like anger and sadness are emotions that often work together in us. They aren’t at war with one another, but instead both fuel in a direction toward something. Toward a larger emotion. Things like bittersweet pull in opposite directions, never allowing you to fully rest in one and causing a confusion in your mind as to what to do with your emotions.
Once you start pulling entire mindsets into this as well it becomes an even different mountain. Is it possible to feel content while also feeling confused? Is it possible to feel purpose while also feeling apathy?
When these mix it can cause months of debating with yourself as to what you’re truly thinking and going through. You feel perfectly content in life yet something in your life continues to confuse you and you don’t know how to solve the problem. Is it a problem? Is that how life is supposed to feel? Is this much emotion normal?
It’s good to dissect your emotions and pray about them. Some things we can overthink, some things we don’t think about enough. But usually, we’re just flat out thinking about ourselves too much. If we stopped thinking about ourselves so much and focused on God and how we can serve him, our emotions become grounded in Him.
As I write this, I almost cringe. I hate the way that sounds. It sounds so disconnected from reality, but it’s not. It’s not disconnected from reality, it’s disconnected from the false narrative we make for ourselves of how life should work and who we are.
We have to get out of our head and focus on something completely outside of it. The more you focus on what’s inside of it, the more it gets stirred and will make your life miserable. Think on things above, not on things below.