Managing Emotions

We all have and experience emotions whether we like it or not! So, what can we do about it?

Managing emotions does not mean denying their existence or ignoring them. It suggests that we acknowledge them and learn to keep them under our control.

So, in other words, managing our emotions means that we assume command of our feelings and reactions, and decide how we will respond to situations and events in everyday life, in a manner that doesn’t frighten ourselves or intimidate others.

To become skilled at managing emotions, we must first recognise the different sensations and body language that singular emotions evoke in us and how we may recognise it in others.

To learn, and thoroughly understand, the art of managing our emotions will truly help us grow as a person.

Most of us strive to be happy. Happy includes feelings like content or pleased, joyous, cheerful and in high spirits. It definitely advocates… love.

Yet, interestingly enough, unless we experience and acknowledge the other groups of sensations, like fear, grief, sadness, worry and anger, we become anaesthetized to happiness, because we have nothing to compare it to.

Feelings within us are evoked by something or someone that we encounter, and these feelings create energy.

Unless we can find an outlet for this energy, managing our emotions by expressing them in language, writing or physical action, they tend to become ‘bottled up’ or stored inside us, and manifest themselves as stress, tension and health problems.

Competently managing our emotions will boost self-confidence and earn the respect of others. It also allows us to tap into one of our greatest resources… our intuition.

A few constructive tips to assist in managing emotions are: -

a. Get enough rest. Tiredness shortens our attention span.

b. Eat a balanced diet. It’s easy to become ‘cranky’ if we’re hungry or high on sugar.

c. Take some exercise. Walk, jog or swim to ‘let off steam’ and calm down.

d. Friends. Talking things through is an important, yet under-rated tool for managing emotions.

e. Problem solving. Often a problem is just a series of little obstacles that we haven’t learnt to overcome yet.

f. Become aware of your self-talk. Negative thinking will drag you down. A positive attitude is uplifting.

g. Read and listen. There is a wealth of information available to help you build self-confidence, making you feel sure of yourself, and more secure.

h. Take responsibility for your own feelings. Become aware of what it is that makes you happy, sad, worried, angry or discontented (grieving).

In Chinese philosophy, the energy created by different emotions, will be stored in their corresponding organs of the body, unless this energy is channelled elsewhere. Therefore managing emotions plays a major role in our overall health and wellbeing.

Growing old is mandatory. Growing up is optional, because it only happens when we take responsibility for our own actions. Our actions are governed by how adept we are at managing emotions.

A two-year-old toddler throwing a tantrum in a shopping mall is almost considered normal; an adult doing the same is highly unacceptable. Adults are expected to know and behave better.

A teenager, vividly displaying many different and contrasting emotions in a single day, is somewhat predictable… they’re at ‘that age’. An adult behaving the same way would be considered unbalanced, irrational or even sick.

So, as we grow up, we are expected to learn many life skills. Managing emotions is only one of those skills to master.

Greater self-confidence and better overall health and wellbeing are the main benefits derived from managing emotions