I had something interesting happen to me this week …
I was listening to my sister talking about how anxious she feels. I was nodding, sympathetic, and at one point, I said, “Yes, I know that feeling.”
She looked surprised and said, “You feel anxious sometimes?” She assumed that I don’t feel anxious simply because I’m in a different place financially.
We started talking, and she asked me a series of questions:
“Do you feel stressed sometimes?”
“Of course,” I told her.
“Do you feel pressure?”
“Of course,” I said again.
Our conversation went on for a while. The point I wanted to make is simple …
Negative feelings and anxiety are normal. The secret lies in how you react to these situations. Here is the formula I use …
3 Questions to Ask When Having Negative Feelings
1) Why do I feel this way?
Instead of reacting immediately, identify why you are having negative emotions.
2) Do these feelings make logical sense?
I’ve found that oftentimes, my emotions are saying one thing, but my intellectual mind is saying another thing. When I think about the situation, I’m able to pinpoint the “hot buttons” that were triggered, but they don’t make logical sense. Many times, simply making this identification helps me move past these feelings. If not, I ask question #3.
3) Can I “be” with these feelings for the next few hours?
The answer, of course, is yes. I can live with negative feelings for a few hours, even a few days. By not trying to suppress the feelings, I can get over them much faster. And by allowing myself to “be” with them for a while, I resist the temptation to take immediate action, which might be inappropriate and reactionary.
What do you think? Comment below to tell me how you deal with negative emotions.
I get physical. I move, I lift weights,I get outdoors. It helps me get thru the moment so that I can be more objective and face my stress.
I have learned I must not react on an emotional level.. stop..breathe and think things through as to how this will matter tomorrow, next week or next year. It’s not about me. It’s about His plan.
I deal with emotions (sometimes stress) in several ways:
1) I take a baseball bat and a 30 gal. trash can into the alley and BEAT the crap out of the can (Rubbermaid holds up well).
2) A former HS and College swimmer, and now into the Masters program, I get in a pool and put about a mile on my workout !
3) Go surfing fro a few hours as the sun sets in the Islands!
First thing I do is talk to God about my problems. Then I go to my “private” area of the house and pick up a good book and read for a while to forget my troubles. By the time I finish reading a bit, things don’t seem to be nearly so bad and I can get on with my life!
When we are tired, not properly fed or too long in a closed environment we tend to get introverted and if we have some financial difficulties, family mishaps and so on things get worse. What I do to handle negative and ansious feelings is: Make sure I am not hungry (eat some proteins, take some vitamins and go out for a walk around the block for a few minutes looking around to distract my attention so I extrovert myself. After that I sure feel much better. Thanks. Violet