Keep your distance from the Emotional Bonfire

We all have an emotional bonfire inside of us. The intensity of the fire can range from warm embers to a raging blaze. The heat of the bonfire radiates in all directions and the closer you are to it the more likely you are to get burned. The bonfire can be made of any flammable experience or memory you may have and the more painful the experience the more intense it will burn but the slower to be consumed by the fire.

It is important to remain at a distance from your emotions so the heat doesn’t become your only focus. This doesn’t mean trying to ignore or suppress the bonfire because by doing so you are still fully engaged and moving towards the fire. Distance means living alongside your emotions and not always being convinced by what they have to say; not feeling the heat as hot. For example, fear of an imagined spider and fear of a spider actually crawling in front of you is the same. Therefore, emotions lack any interpretive ability; they say yes to everything no matter how inappropriate. 

The fire is indiscriminate in what it burns but it only generates heat if we believe it to be hot.