Healing a Broken Heart: Embrace Your Emotions

I've learned a lot about myself over the past year as I've been on a journey towards healing my heart. There hasn't been one magic solution to take away the pain and anger. It has been a combination of different advice, Biblical counsel and self-talk that has helped me move forward and not get stuck in the deep pit of depression and despair. At times my progress has been really slow. But God continues to show me new things and reminds me of some things that I had forgotten. 
​I know that there are many people who are stuck in the pain of heartbreak and can't break free and move forward. So in the next few blogs, I'm going to share some of the things that have helped me keep moving towards healing. 
​The first thing I learned was that I would experience a wide array of emotions on my journey and I needed to feel those emotions. Really feel them. Embrace them fully as they hit me. Don't bury them or ignore them or wish them away. I needed to feel the emotion and then give it to God.
​There were days that I cried a lot and felt deep sadness. Other days I was more angry than sad. One of the best ways for me to process my emotions was through journaling. Writing has always been therapeutic for me. When my mind and heart were overwhelmed it really helped to put the thoughts and feelings down onto paper. Some of those writings I shared on my blog but many were just for me. As I go back and read old journal posts I can see the progress that I have made. 
​Another way that I embraced my emotions was through music. Some days I listened to the "you don't deserve me" girl power songs or the sad country love songs. Praise and worship music helped lift my spirit and remind me who I was. Singing Scripture help dispel the lies that filled my mind, Lies about being forsaken, forgotten and rejected. Music is still a powerful tool in my healing journey. God uses it to speak His love over me.
​It's ok to be emotional. I think too many people think it's a sign of weakness to be hurt or sad when someone betrays them. For some reason we think that we have to just buck up and put on a strong front. But all that does is delay the complete healing of the heart. 
​There will be good days and there will be rough days. You just have to face each day as it comes. Don't get overwhelmed with looking too far ahead. Don't get depressed by continuing to look back and ask "Why me?" Start each day thanking God for the progress that you have made so far. Ask Him for the strength and courage to make it through the day or just the next hour if it's a rough day. At the end of the day write down the things that are on your mind. Write your fears, your questions, your victories for that day. Write it all down. Get it off your mind and onto paper. You will be amazed out how freeing it is to just dump it all out. 
Once all the junk is out, then you can replace it with truth and healthy self talk. It's a slow process but over time you will begin to see signs of healing.