I Will Expose You! Says Your Emotions

Our emotions give us away every time! But yet our emotions free us. Our emotions cause us to experience the same events as others in totally different ways just because of how we feel about the people around and the event itself. And so 10 people are in a room and have 10 different feeling or emotion about being in that space. Some persons have inappropriate reactions and make us uncomfortable and we even question their sanity. For example there are those who burst out in laughter when they feel threatened, sad, slighted, uncomfortable, hurt or simply surprised at a turn of events. There are those who, because they do not know how to share in another's joy, display a myriad of inappropriate reactions in your celebration. If you have ever witnessed this it is certainly a sight to behold. You watch as they spiral down a slippery slope of varied emotions - they go from shock that something positive happened to someone else to anger that it didn't happen to them to lashing out with incoherent musings to a semblance of seeming rationality. They begin to reason and try to sound supportive but stop short of simply saying why you. In Jamaican vernacular this is called, "Bad Mind". The term "bad mind" in the Jamaican context is ascribed to those who begrudge you for what you have, plain and simple. Those who sit on the sidelines and look at the things you acquire, your family life, your lifestyle, your professional development your Christian walk and even your personality and feel nothing but disdain at the fact that "it seems" too positive. I say "it seems" for they know nothing of your truth or how it all came to be. Do you know anyone like that?

Not to sound as if I'm writing an essay for my teacher but placing this into context I have to help us to understand what this word emotion is. The dictionary says it is a noun and means, " a strong feeling deriving from one's circumstances, mood, or relationships with others." I want to also add that none of us can hide from our true emotions, positive or negative. For emotions are not always negative we have those whose emotions are priceless and you just enjoy telling them good news or having experiences with them, but it seems, based on what the dictionary says, is influenced by their relationship with you - their love for you. There are some emotions that feel like a hug. I have a friend who rejoices with me in the most phenomenal way, even in a COVID socially distanced way and fully masked. My friend sits on the other side of a room and receives a text of good news about me, raises her head and catches my glance and I literally am seeing her heart in her eyes. This is in stark contrast to "bad mind", this is the complete opposite of hate, there is no anger, no malice no confusion - just love and pure joy.

I realise that raw emotions cannot be hidden especially in a highly charged environment, it will just burst forth like the broken levees of New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina. You cannot hide your true self in these times and it tells others who you are and reveals your motive. So the key, I imagine, would be to keep your motives pure and exercise your heart muscle by practicing to keep your words impeccable and never take things personally. Other peoples reactions toward you really have nothing to do with you, good or bad. It is their own feelings toward you - positive or negative; and so rejoice in your own victories for these were achieved through prayer, supplication and a testimony that would be mind blowing if preached. Dance in your victory in an empty room and shed tears of joy at what God and only God has done. For God saw you, little bit of you, insignificant you and HE blessed you. Jehovah El Roi -The God who sees me!!