You are Not in Control of Your Feelings
None of us are
You are not in control of what you feel.
You feel what you feel.
Instead of pushing your feelings away, figuring out why they showed up is much more helpful.
That’s because emotions are messengers.
They are sent from our brain to the rest of our body as messengers with information about our surroundings and situations.
They are meant to help us and keep us safe. Ignoring them is like ignoring vital messages about what you need.
The sooner you acknowledge that emotion, the sooner you can find what you need to do to feel better.
But how???
Below is the Feelings Wheel. It is an effective tool to help identify emotions. Once the emotion is labeled, it is a lot easier to identify what to do about it.
After you identify all the feelings you are experiencing, get into the habit of asking yourself, “What do I need to do about this?”
If you are upset that a friend blew off your dinner plans, do you need to talk to them about it? Or are you feeling unsafe too, which might tell you it isn’t a good idea to speak to them, and instead, it may be time to set a boundary with this friend?
Your feelings are messengers. Get into the habit of listening to them.
You also do not control the random thoughts that pop into your head. If you’d like to read more about that, check out “Does Trump Fry His Own Bacon.”
