Being positive about negative emotions

One of the reasons that I decided to start this blog is that I was very inspired by someone else's blog about her stuggles with her weight. She was going throught the process of being selected as a contestant on "Biggest Loser", and through this process she learned a lot about herself. One thing that really hit home with me was that she said she ate to stuff down any negative emotion. She liked to be happy, and she hated to feel badly about anything. I totally relate to that!! I do not like to feel upset or angry or sad. In fact, sometimes I even feel guilty when I feel negative emotions. So, I tend to eat instead. While I'm eating, I don't have to feel anything (except the exquisite joy that comes from something like chocolate brownie chunk icecream....). It really does make me feel temporarily better. Then, of course, the guilt sets in because I just ate something I shouldn't. So, I have another negative emotion I don't want to feel, and the vicious cycle begins again.  One day about 6 months or so ago I realized I was doing this. So, instead of eating, I sat down and just felt. I thought about the thing that was bothering me, and just let myself feel upset. And you know what?? It DIDN'T kill me! Amazing, huh? I was actually able to think it through, and face even the worst-case scenario that could come out of the situation and decide that it would really be okay. Wow. I'm still working on doing that more often. It's hard, because negative emotions hurt, and dwelling on them can be damaging. But to just feel the emotion and work through it is much more healthy, not only emotionaly, but physically.  So I guess it's time to be a little more positive about feeling negative.