Feelings and Emotions: A Guide to Managing Them

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Being a new mom was really overwhelming for me.. I'll never forget what it felt like sitting in bed at 3am staring at my peacefully sleeping husband with a newborn baby on my boob.

Imagine it if you will.. waking up to a loud shriek and someone pushing a screaming baby at you then disappearing back into their peaceful slumber. It didn't take long before I started feeling resentful for being put on permanent babysitting duty like that. 😤

I mean… the guy had it so easy. In 30 seconds, he'd get up and grab our son, then he'd hand him off to me and be good to go. I remember staring longingly at him. 😩

I don't like feeling resentful so when I was especially tired one night, I woke my dear husband up and half-asked-half-demanded, "I know you can't help much with the baby while I'm breastfeeding, but can you at least sit up with me so I don't want to kill you?" 😯

Looking back on it now, I recognize that moment was a time when I was true to myself.

Emotions play a big role in how you feel about your life. That's why knowing how to manage them is so critical.

It can be hard to deal with and process your emotions, but the more time and effort you put into it the easier it will be. Don't be frustrated if you don't seem to understand your emotions at first. It takes practice, but the more time you put into it, the easier it gets.

Spend a few minutes describing how you feel throughout the day. You can use a feelings list to help identify what you might be feeling. When you feel emotionally out of control or are heavily influenced by one emotion, wait until the intensity diminishes then try and reflect on what you experienced.

Before you can process emotions, you need to be able to identify them and stay with them long enough to understand and make sense of them.

Phase one. Identifying and acknowledging emotions and feelings 🔎

Phase Two. Accepting and staying with your feelings 😅

Phase Three. Processing the emotion so you can act on it. In this stage, you're figuring out why you're having a feeling so you can move on. 🤔

Phase Four. Resolving emotional issues+ being true to yourself 🙌

Learning to understand and process your emotions takes time and can be difficult. But when you gain an understanding of how your emotions work, you can start to process them more effectively, which can really transform your life for the better.

If you feel like processing on your own isn't working for you, get help from a professional.