Do you have a heart?

In his book, "Just A Moment," Fr. Jerry  M. Orbos, SVD suggests, "Take a moment to seek from your heart the answer to the following    questions.

"First question: Do you have a heart? Is there no more space for matters of the heart in your hard, stern, dysfunctional and cold life?

"Second question: What kind  of heart do you have?  Do you have a stony heart, a  wooden heart, or perhaps a plastic heart?

"Third  question:  What are the sins in your heart? There is no real peace in your heart as long as you hold in it the following sins of the heart:

H- Hatred

E - Envy

A- Anger

R- Resentment

T- Timidity"

If  you look at the sins of the heart as pointed out by Fr.Orbos, all of these are negative emotions. If we have  these negative emotions I believer it’s because we are unhappy, bitter, discontented in life or we  have  a stressful  life. I believe that there are techniques  that  we can do to expel these negative emotions.  One of these is the Breathing Meditation. Here’s what you are going to do. Sit on a chair comfortably with your eyes close and your hands on your lap. Observe your breathing from the diaphragm by inhaling and exhaling through your nose for 20 minutes.  If a thought comes into your mind,  let it  pass. Try this  technique and  you’ll  know what I  mean.

Elizabeth Scott of “verywell website,” recommends the following steps  to  dispel negative emotions:

Understand your emotions. Look  within and try to pinpoint the situations that are creating  the stress and negative emotions in life.

Change what  you  can. Cut down on your stress triggers and you’ll find yourself feeling negative  emotions less frequently.

Find  an outlet. Making changes in your  life can cut down on negative emotions. As  you make changes in your life to bring about less frustration, you will also need  to find healthful outlets with these emotions, the following:

Regular exercise can provide an emotional lift as well as an outlet for negative emotions.

Meditation can help you find some   inner “space”  to work with, so your emotions don’t feel so overwhelming.

Finding opportunities for having fun and getting more laughter in your life can also change your perspective and relieve stress.

As a reminder Ziad K. Abdelnour has  this  to say, “People with higher ratios of positive to  negative emotions are more likely to flourish in life.”