Seven Things Mindful People Do:
- Practicebeingcurious
- Forgive themselves
- Hold their emotions lightly
- Practice compassion
- Make peace with imperfection
- Embrace vulnerability
- Understand all things come and go
That moment is seared in my memory. That last time I succumbed entirely to an emotion that I allowed to completely rule over me. No amount of analysis assuages the memory of the anger and words that just came out without thought or consideration. I was instantly humiliated by the action.
Developmental psychologists have long been able to trace how we humans can progress to completely inside ourselves to the level of maturity of considering ourselves and others together. However, our news sources would dry up to a trickle of good news without the number of people acting out emotions on public stages.
As a Jesus-follower, I constantly learn how he modeled handling emotions, yet honoring them. He knew sorrow and anger, and yet channeled them in a beneficial way.
Twice yesterday I was presented with a method for mindfully handling strong emotions that could have the power (if I let them) to take over lives with sometimes devastating results. It’s called RAIN.
R=recognize (the first step of every growth pattern is awareness)
A=allow (don’t try to bury it, let it sit, recognized, realize it is a part of me)
I=investigate (what triggered it, why am I reacting)
N=non-identification (“I have this emotion, but I am not this emotion”)
[I should have mentioned yesterday, as well, that sometimes we can’t handle these things ourselves. When that happens, we need to recognize the situation and seek help from a professional.]
Faith Venture 
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