How to deal with your emotions
The other day I was dealing with a whirlwind of emotions. So I decided to sit with my emotions and feel all the feels. This included sitting and doing nothing except crying and being angry for a straight hour. And guess what? That's perfectly okay because it's okay not to be okay.
Ignoring your feelings is completely ineffective. It's important to let out your emotions and feel them rather than avoiding them by working more, staying busy or using food and alcohol as comfort.
Trust me, I know it's not always easy to deal with what you are feeling, but it's absolutely necessary. I can tell you from past experiences, when I avoided my feelings or tried forgetting about it, it always ended up biting me in the ass down the road because those feelings would pop back up.
I want you to make the effort to be aware of your feelings and deal with them. Here are some tips on how to do that:
1. Acknowledge your emotions
Sometimes it an be difficult to understand what you are feeling so start by thinking of common emotions like anger, sadness, anxiety or disappointment. You might even be experiencing more than one emotion. Once you are aware of how you are feeling, you can begin to take the steps you need to in order to work through that emotion.
2. Sit with your emotions
What I mean by this is to feel those emotions. When you sit with your emotions you are allowing them to happen instead of resisting the urge to get rid of them.
It's important and crucial for you to put yourself first so you can deal with your emotions. Do what you need to do so that you can cope with what you are feeling. Even if that means taking the day off from work or just laying in bed all day to cry, you should give yourself permission to do so without feeling guilty about it.
3. Validate your emotions
When you validate your emotions you accept them, you can understand them and you won't pass judgement for feeling them. Take the time to understand why you are feeling the way you are feeling, cut yourself some slack and realize that it's okay not to be okay.
4. Work through your emotions
Once you've experienced all the feels, work through the emotion. You need to understand why you are feeling the way you are and then think of how you can fix it. Depending on the situation, you may need to discuss your feelings with the person who hurt you or it might be something you have to learn to move on from because you can't change it.
5. Do something positive
Do something for yourself to help you cope with the pain you might be experiencing. As I mentioned before, a lot of us lean on food, alcohol or other unhealthy habits as a source of comfort so I want to encourage you to do something that is productive and positive. That could be taking a walk outside, talking to a friend or seeing a professional to help you through the situation.
Sending lots of love to you and whatever you may be going through! I hope this helps you :)
XO
Devon Day