So to continue on from this post, this is a fun little game I have been playing with myself, with some interesting results!
When an unwanted and especially persistent feeling comes up, instead of trying to change it or make it go away I have actually been going the other way - let’s have it all the time since I am so hellbent on ‘being’ it, let’s suppose this feeling was to be an ongoing way of living for ‘me’ from now. And very quickly I see those 2 things, which is that it sucks and it does not go anywhere.
For example there is this resentment which I typically experience for the 30min-1hour after waking up, a very persistent and habitual thing, and I have not been able to resolve it completely so far. But this morning I was like - sure let’s ‘be’ that resentment to ‘my’ hearts content… let’s have as much of it as ‘I’ want, in fact let’s only have resentment as an ongoing MO from now on. And then I get to actually see that this feeling is rotten, that ‘I’ don’t want to ‘be’ it anymore.
I don’t think this is to be a long term approach but perhaps a nice way to stop holding certain feelings at arms length, it has been very interesting to see how some very persistent feelings can now be resolved and replaced with the felicitous and innocuous feelings.
Essentially the experiential question I have been holding up to myself is - Do ‘I’ want to ‘be’ that feeling for the rest of ‘my’ life?
Interesting that asking that same question when ‘being’ felicity and innocuity get’s a different answer - yes it is what ‘I’ want for the rest of ‘my’ life.