We are in week two of April and the weather has decided to cooperate! (Sorta. Kinda.) And while last week we dived into how to check on and get back on track with our goals, this week we’re going to check in with our emotions and maybe get out of our feelings if necessary.
As I mentioned on social media, last week there was a revival at my church. It was soul cleansing and just what I needed.
On one of those nights, I was at the altar for reasons I don’t remember. When the preacher got to me she said, “God said to stop being emotional.” First of all, God how dare you call me out in front of people. I then wondered how I could stop being emotional when I was made to have emotions. Rolling it over in the back of my mind for the rest of the night, I then dismissed it. I didn’t fully understand it, so I wasn’t going to dwell on it.
Fast forward to this week. I’m doing okay. People aren’t doing the most, work is not stressing me out. Then as the days go I get more and more irritated. Someone says something that I take very personally and suddenly I’m in a depressive episode and getting – you guessed it – emotional. I talked things out with one of my sons, and I felt better if not back to my revived self.
When I awoke in the morning to start reading a Bible plan and pray it hit me; this was what God meant! I let another person’s words, with all of their emotions, affect me in such a way that I spiraled to the most negative places. I stopped my progress on my goals because I allowed my emotions to take over. When I realized, I chastised myself out loud, “Girl, get out your feelings!” I was able to read my Bible plan and start my day. I felt so much better once I got myself back on track. So, I decided to share it with you.
You don’t need a church revival to get right on an emotional level. It certainly helps, but revivals don’t happen every week, so we need to learn to sort ourselves out. First things first:
• Check in with your emotions – Ask yourself how you are feeling about work, school, family, yourself and life in general. Acknowledge whatever feelings you have. The more often you check in with yourself, the easier it will be to recognize when you’re starting to drift.
Once you know how you’re feeling, take the appropriate action. Whether happy, sad or angry, there are plenty of options available to keep or better your mood. Here are some examples of things I done:
• Cry – When I feel the urge to cry, I do. Crying releases all of the pent-up emotions you have. It’s a good way to get back to a more normal state. Don’t push yourself to cry though. There have been times I wanted to cry but couldn’t, so I tried to force it. The frustration just added to how terrible I was already feeling and made things worse.
• Listen to music – I tend to listen to slow music or rain sounds when I hit a wall. Some people prefer to dance their way to happiness. Neither choice is wrong.
• Read – The appeal of books is their ability to help you escape into a different world from your own. Focusing on a character’s struggles and growth allows me to work out any parallels in my life.
• Watch a favorite show or movie – This is similar to reading with less imagination involved in visualizing. Most of the shows I watch (k-dramas) involve some form of comedy that makes me laugh. This always makes me feel better.
• Nap – Why don’t we nap as adults? Naps are amazing! A quick nap – or earlier bedtime – helps bring you back to yourself.
• Plan – When I feel overwhelmed and like life is spiraling out of control I plan for different scenarios. None of the scenarios may happen, but knowing I prepared helps calm me.
• Color/Craft – I do this less often when I’m depressed because I can’t drum up the motivation and energy to be creative. This does help when I’m feeling angry or a little down.
• Clean – Paraphrasing Mr. Nancy from American Gods, “Anger gets stuff done. I can’t argue with that.
• Feel your feelings – Sometimes I just feel how I’m feeling and that’s it. I’ll listen to music while I lay on my bed and wallow. I get past the negative emotions faster when I let them run their course.
I know there are as many ways to deal with your emotions as there are people. I’ve only provided a few solutions. Pick what works for you or create your own. We need to make sure we get out our feelings if it’s going to stop our momentum. You are not a plant sis. There is no need to derail yourself and stay where you are. If you need help getting unstuck, click here to schedule a call with me to discuss. Remember to comment and share if this helped you out, and I’ll see you next week. Love and light! Don’t forget to GROW on purpose!