Any discussion on self improvement will not be complete without talking about the importance of keeping one’s emotions in check. Emotions make us human, however, there are times when our most human side causes problems that could have been avoided easily if we only had controlled our emotions.
Emotions are POWERFUL and most of the times we feel there’s no way weyou can stop yourselves from feeling what we’re feeling. And that is true. Why? because your emotions are natural responses to your belief systems and simply doing what they are being told to do, by your mind. There are external “triggers” that kick you emotions into action.
While I also agree that your emotions have to be let out, it has to be in constructive ways and not the opposite.
As you probably know, you cannot just change these emotional response habits overnight and reading positive quotes about life alone is not going to help. Here are other ways you can practice having control over your emotions in any situation:
Stop and think for a moment
If you feel like your emotions are going to explode any moment, stop whatever you’re doing and think. You have to avoid reacting to the situation right away. Realize that there is a belief system (our template of life that is happening at a sub-conscious level) that is being triggered. The life situation isn’t matching your model of life (don’t worry you’re not bad…we all have them). Just be aware of the energy (emotion) coming up. Ttake your time so you can think better how you will respond. Whenever you feel you’re losing your cool, all you have to do is be aware and refocus. If not, you might find yourself reacting in a way that you’ll later regret.
Avoid getting overwhelmed by a mix of emotions
An emotional overload is when there are lots of different emotions coming to you, like joy, happiness, sadness, or anger. Typically, this feeling comes with a physical response, such as rapid breathing, increased heart rate, sweaty palms, weak knees, and even nausea. When you experience any of these, it means you’re being overwhelmed by emotions. To avoid this, you should try to process information little by little so you can avoid being flooded with various emotions.
Practice deep breathing
When you’re losing control emotionally, different strange signals are transmitted to your muscles and heart, which also cause your body to be tense. This is known as tension (we all feel it in our bodies over time don’t we :-)) You may deal with this tension by doing some deep breathing. When you breathe deeply, more oxygen enters the brain, and this causes your body to relax. And when you’re relaxed, you’re more likely to think clearly and have a better response to the situation.
Focus on solutions and not the problems
Reacting negatively to a situation is a common problem when dealing with your emotions. There is nothing wrong with feeling sad or angry. In fact, you need to express your sadness or anger so that you’ll be able to think clearly about the solution. What you should avoid is dwelling on the problem and feeling sorry for yourself too much. You have to think positive for you to be able to find ways to resolve your problems. Thinking about the positive, means focusing on what you want to become. Think about a positive outcome and how you are in control.
Emotions can easily rule your life and this is true for the majority, if you allow them to. Your self improvement goal should be to learn how to rule over your emotions. We start this by being AWARE. Awareness is the first step in the process of healing. Over time and with practice, tThis will allow you to respond rationally during difficult situations, and will prevent your negative thoughts from dragging you down into depression and despair.
We need to start responding instead of just reacting. be patient with yourself and know there is another way and you can be in control.
Enjoy!
Love and Peace
Kenneth