Do your emotions get the best of you?
Having strong emotions is natural and being emotional is what makes us human. But when our emotions, particularly negative ones, become hard for us to control that is when problems tend to arise.
PsychCentral has reported on the important information that emotions, including negative emotions, give us. For example, they note that many emotions were developed as survival techniques. “Depending on the context, anger can communicate that we need to protect ourselves and fear helps us escape from situations that could be harmful.”
The article goes on to say that when emotions are formed without an accurate reflection of the situation is when they can be harmful to us and the people around us. This is usually when logic and reason fly out the window.
PsychCentral’s solution to this is Mindfulness. What exactly is mindfulness?
Well, it is avoiding the immediate impulse to just react to a given situation. They suggest that you step back at least for a moment to pause and reflect on a given situation. This goes for face to face interactions as well as verbal and electronic communications.
This can be very helpful in avoiding regretful actions such as the angry email you just sent to your child’s teacher or the curt remark you blurted out to a co-worker.
Another important tip that was mentioned was to Not Assume things. Just because we think we know someone’s motives doesn’t mean that we truly do. Be sure of the facts before you act!
They also suggest that when you are very emotionally charged and an immediate response is not necessary, then take the time to let your emotions fade.