Learn Not To Run Away From Emotions
Emotions have a voice, they speak to us and tell us how we are feeling. Emotions show us what we need at all times, what happens if we ignore them, if we ignore them? We can only turn off their voices, but not their needs.
We live surrounded by the rush, trying to move quickly and something else, the “don’t worry”, the “what you have to do is …”, the “don’t pay attention”, “forget about that”, “try not to think in that ”… All emotions have an adaptive function, if we don’t listen to them they are saved and will reappear with more force when they need to come out again. And yes, many times at the least opportune moments.
For example, sadness is telling us that we need to stop, that we need to stay with ourselves and that is why you don’t feel like going out and being with people. Joy, on the other hand, is encouraging us to go outside and socialize. Disgust is warning us of possible dangers to our body, fear, it keeps us alert and protects us.
If we learn to listen to them and not run away from them, we can understand what they are telling us about. Thus, when we listen to them, we may know a part of us that was hidden until then or with needs that we have not yet satisfied.
What happens if we medicate the emotions?
All emotions in their proper measure are adequate and functional, the problem will come when they reach limits that are not tolerable for the person or prevent them from continuing on their path. This happens to us when we ignore them, try to minimize them or tiptoe over them.
As we have said before, emotions have a voice, what happens then when we medicate functional emotions? We turn off their voices, we shut them up, but what we can’t do is finish with what they want to say to us. If we learn to listen to them, we will be able to know what they are saying to us, they will fulfill their function and give way to other emotions.
Fleeing emotions entails medicating, silencing or containing with the sole objective that they pass quickly and we are always happy and content, living life and enjoying. This is very dangerous since we are “forced” to wear masks. We use them because we are pressured, many times by ourselves, to reflect emotions that are very different from the genuine ones on our faces.
Stop and listen, close our eyes and listen, give us what our emotions need, it is the same as overwhelming ourselves with ourselves, a few minutes of solitude as sadness suggests, or it is the same as evaluating the options so as not to jump into the void, as fear helps us . But we will not know this if as soon as we appear we silence their voices with an anxiolytic or an antidepressant.
Unless they emerge in an explosion that threatens to surpass us, it is advisable to listen to them so that they do not gain more strength and do not appear later with more voice. A voice that will already be uncontrollable for us, then yes we will need external help.
Learn to listen to emotions
Living in harmony implies opening our senses, since we live in society and we adapt as social beings that we are. But before being social beings we are complete beings, so we need a well-formed and stable personal structure that fits in an external environment.
Thus, emotions are part of us but they are not “us”, they come and go, some stay longer and others only accompany us at certain times. For better or for worse, emotions are not eternal. Being made this brevity is in its definition; otherwise we would speak of an emotional state and not an emotion.
Every now and then it would be okay to ask ourselves how am I feeling? What emotion can be accompanying me at this moment? This will help us understand what is happening to us and connect with our own emotions. If I don’t run away from them, I will be able to create a balance in which to build well-being. This balance will in turn be supported by the idea that no emotion is harmful (in and of itself), its voice simply narrates something related to what is happening inside me.
