Sometimes we can't help the way we feel, but we can mostly choose how we respond to it.

It's difficult to change, because I have to admit that I have been previously living in a less compassionate and loving way. Sometimes we just want to be right instead of fully conscious.

I feel especially vulnerable when I know I've let the reactive ego take control of my actions and it may have had hurtful implications with someone I love. I feel vulnerable when I don't listen to my conscience.

Several things can throw me into that space where I feel energetic and peaceful at the same moment - often things that force me to utilize all my senses. Sunshine does it for me. Music for sure, singing, and dancing. Conscious breathing. Nature. Silence. Meditation. Sport is a great one.

I try not to think in terms of good and bad but more in terms of helpful or unhelpful in regards to specific moral codes and goals.

If you give yourself permission to feel the pain and the joy, without attaching to either, then you can be happy or sad with an underlying peace that just makes everything feel like it's going to be OK.

For me, it's the slow release of my ego and certain belief systems that I identify with that give me comfort and an identity, and it's scary to let go of that.