I've been through them all as many on here have as well. What I was forgetting to do was learning to feel each emotion and sorting them out so I can then move on to the next phase of the healing process. I was suppressing them which only caused me to be "trapped" with that one feeling.
Recently, I have understood what I was being taught in college. I have found a sense of peace inside that I have not had for a very long time. I'm sure there will be more unsettling emotions coming up but now that I know I need to feel those feelings so I can move to the next stage, I am prepared.
It takes work to heal and active work that is. People that I've seen go through difficult situations tend to forget they need to actively work through their feelings. I have read many self help books, studied this very thing in college, discussed my feelings to friends but I (being stuck on one feeling) was not moving on to the next stage. I'm discovering that when I feel angry, I tend to push the real anger down and not face the true cause.
If we take a proactive way about this and not a reactive way, we can heal quicker and get through our challenging times. Proactive is a positive way of handling our feelings. I was reacting to the anger feelings causing a destructive emotional chain reaction. I'm now taking each feeling and thinking about them and acting (not reacting) with them and it's been an amazing experience. Look at it this way, any feelings is life and to feel anything is living. Take the unpleasant feelings and look at them very closely. What causes the anger? What causes the sadness? I've been finding out that when I look at that particular feeling, I'm understanding that emotion better. I then look at the situation closer that caused this feeling and fight to find one positive thing about it.
For example, my family turned their backs on my children and me when I chose to leave my childhood religion. This caused anger but looking at that anger, the positive side of it is that I'm not being controlled by them. When I was part of their lives, I was nagged at the friends I would choose, how I was raising my children, and so on. I don't get this anymore which is a nice feeling.
Now that I've learn to feel the feelings and act and not react to them, I'm finding that getting through some of my more challenging times is becoming less challenging.
I thought I'd share this with all of you in hopes it may help someone else out there. I'm at peace right now and it's a great feeling. I still have work to get through but the work is well worth it and I'm feeling like ME and not what someone else expects me to be like. It's a great feeling to see myself move to the next phase of the healing process and not be stuck in one stage.
Wishing you all a healthy mental and physical being,
~Freedom Frog~