I have a screensaver on my computer that shows a picture of a huge waterfall. It sends out a strong sense of power. As I sat staring at it one morning, I started noticing how deeply the water had dug into the rock it was running over. And since I had been grappling with a powerful feeling of the loss of a friend, it was as if the screensaver’s picture spoke to me. It told me that the water element of emotion could dig into my very foundation – if I let it take over.

This reminder gave enough push to cause me to run to my meditation space, do some release work, and refill with the abundance of love that my spirit offers. Even though my feeling of loss seemed very real, the spirit replacement was more powerful. So every time my friend comes to mind, I no longer need to let the feeling of loss dig away at my sense of available love.

It is easy to think of our life as being compartmentalized. And while each area of our life may take place in different physical localities, with distinct mental perimeters, watery emotions can flow over those well-defined lines. For instance, when you get angry at work, isn’t there some carryover when you go home? And when you feel lack around money, doesn’t it eventually make you feel a lack of value somewhere in your life?

Just as water can eat away something as solid as rock, so can a feeling eat away something as solid as a friendship, your health, or even your spiritual belief system. I watched a woman gain 40 pounds because her husband was having an affair. I witnessed a man go from fun-loving and likeable to pensive and withdrawn because his business went into a slump.

Emotions are powerful energies that aren’t easily compartmentalized. But unlike a waterfall, we can change the direction of a feeling. Most feelings are activated by an outside event. But feelings can be disconnected from an outside attachment by loving whichever of our inner qualities is needed to deal with the situation. For instance, since my feeling of loss was attached to losing the above woman’s steadfastness, all I had to do was look inward to find and love my own.

By looking inward to love who you are, your feelings can take you into life, instead of letting life take you over. And when love digs into the bedrock of your life, it simply finds more love.