Monday, September 22, 2014

Bathrooms, Flushing

Flushing, toilets, bathroom images tend to be symbolic ways of dealing with our problems, conflicts, hurts, and other negative emotions. Our inner person is telling us that we need to flush away the problems just like we flush away other waste. Down the toilet.... whoosh!

What kind of negative thing? Anything really that we feel is negative, that has affected us badly, makes us feel low or depressed, anxious or concerned. You know what it is for you.

Facts and Events


Sometimes negative things really happen. There is no point in denying it or sugar-coating it. People we trust can let us down. Someone might devalue our opinions or undercut us at work. Someone is unfair to us or someone we love. So, what do we do with that? It really happened. It's big enough that we cannot and should not shrug it off. It is showing up in our dreams as a filthy bathroom or a search for a bathroom. It was important. and we need to find a way past it to a more positive place. That is the dream's message.

 

Flushing Image

So, if we acknowledge that we are hurt, wounded, upset, betrayed, insulted, that is okay. It is real and we are mad, sad, discouraged, afraid to try again. All of that is okay - we should acknowledge what we feel - it is real, it is valid. It's ok to feel our anger and our hurt.

What needs to be flushed and how do I do it? What about dwelling on something? thinking of put-downs, come-backs, and zingers? Really wanting to tell someone the way it is? That is pretty negative and unhelpful, because we can't re-write and do-over. Or, maybe we think of retaliating in some way, getting even. These thoughts and attitudes hold us in that negative place and  we need to flush out of our lives.

How to Flush Away Negative Thoughts

I can only share what has worked for me. I'm not very perfect so you might not agree with my methods. Here are some of the things that have worked for me:

  • Realize that I can learn from negative things too.
  • Understand if there are ways that I could have acted differently or might in the future
  • Understand that I am not in charge of ultimate justice or fairness. Realize that people often 'reap what they sow' and 'what goes around comes around.' If a person needs to learn a lesson, they often will - but I don't have to teach them. 
  • Understand that I'm on my own path and no-one can really shake me off of it. Most of the petty things other people do really don't matter in the long term.
  • Take the long view of everything. I was fine before I met this person or ran into the situation and I will be fine again.
  • Put my faith in God to make me whole.
  • Look for a path to forgiveness. That can take a very long time but often there is one.

When we flush away all the impurities, we can have the cool, clear, clean water. That's life.