2023-03-31 Emotions Don’t Dictate Context — You Do

Sometimes your emotions are trying to tell you something.

Sometimes they are default physiological responses to situations (think fight or flight).

Sometimes you have good reason to feel a certain emotion and other times, you’re making mountains out of molehills.

In any case, it’s usually smart to avoid treating any tiny little sense of emotional discomfort as something you need to get rid of. In fact, trying to get rid of certain emotions instead of just fully feeling them makes the problem even worse.

The point: don’t automatically assume the context or your emotions. Also, don’t automatically assume there’s something wrong with you for feeling certain emotions.

Instead, adopt this frame of mind:

You’re going to always try to rig the emotional game in your favor. If you feel a negative emotion, you’ll try your best to either use it to your advantage or accept how you feel in the moment instead of trying to run.

It’s that game of running that keeps us from experiencing what life is all about.

Running away from a challenge.

Running away from conflict.

Running away from moments that cause emotional damage short-term, but create emotional strength in the long term.

I’m not here to tell you what to do with your life. I can’t. I don’t know you. But I can shed some light on what might be going on with you based on what I’ve been through.

Keep an open mind, take what’s useful to you, and discard what doesn’t.