Music © 1995 Warner Music.  The Memory Of Trees by Enya
 
 
 


 


 
 

 


 
 

If you've never been scared or embarrassed or hurt,

it means you never take any chances.
 
 

-- Julia Soul
 
 

 

 

 

Do we avoid making new friends because we're scared they won't like us?

Do we get embarrassed when we make a mistake and avoid trying again?

When we get our feelings hurt, do we think we're bad, or that something is wrong with us? 

Being scared or shy or hurt are all part of being alive.

When we try to stay away from painful feelings, we keep ourselves from having many wonderful adventures.

If we're afraid to meet new people, we may never have any close friends.

If we stop trying when we're embarrassed, we may never learn a better way of doing things.

And if we don't share our hurt feelings, we may never find out that everyone else has the same feelings we have.

 

 

 


 


 
 

 

 

It feels so good to cry . . .
 

-- Susan Cygnet
 
 

 

 

Some of us were taught that it's bad to express our feelings directly -- crying, wailing, jumping up and down for joy -- that it's good manners to talk softly, slowly, and politely and to sit still. 

But what happens to our feelings when we sit still?

If they don't get expressed, they must be caught inside our bodies. 

Trapped feelings are like birds in a cage, or a rabbit in a trap: they try to get out any way they can.

They peck on our heads and give us headaches.

 They scratch at our stomachs and make us hurt.

We must let them out. We must laugh and cry. 

Then our bodies will be happy, and our feelings will curl up in our laps like happy puppies.

__________

© 1991 Hazelden Foundation  from the book Today's Gift
 

01/28/2009
 

 
 

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Forget Me Not image Copyright © Rachel Anderson

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