LEARNING TO MANAGE OUR EMOTIONAL RESPONSES

We each may justify our emotional responses on a variety of things. Acquiring ways to manage each emotion becomes important as we acknowledge how they are impacting us. Let’s take a moment to discuss, “Learning to Manage our Emotional Responses.”

Let’s first consider some of our emotional responses. These include: sadness, happiness, fear, anger, surprise, and disgust. These can also be demonstrated in our facial reactions too. There are about 21 facial cues demonstrating our emotional expressions. Here is the full list of facial expressions: happy, sad, fearful, angry, surprised, disgusted, happily surprised, happily disgusted, sadly fearful, sadly angry, sadly surprised, sadly disgusted, fearfully angry, fearfully surprised, fearfully disgusted, angrily. Sometimes we may not know how much our facial expressions are demonstrating to others how we feel until others tell us.

There are some who may be good at trying to not react immediately or show much emotions. But let’s be honest, we each have an emotional response to what we are dealing with. Many times we will have a change in our mood, behavior and even a physical change impacted by the way our emotions are responding. At times we find our hearts beater faster and we can have a fight or flight response. 

The question becomes how can we learn to manage our emotional responses and not allow them to have a negative impact on us. 

1. Let’s consider our beliefs and old patterns of thinking.

2. Recognize the effects of our emotions and be motivated to do better with our reactions and emotional responses.

3. Define the areas that are tough and may trigger a negative emotional response.

4. Create new habits in responding. Work on implementing practical ways to approaching these situations differently.

5. Pay attention to your reactions.

6. Stay in the moment and don’t allow your mind to wonder about the situation. This can lead to vain imaginations, etc. Stay on topic.

7. Make a commitment to forming better responses and not allow yourself to be impulsive. Pay attention to your thoughts and what you want to say.

8. Journal your emotional responses and what your doing to work on each.

9. Practice the pause. Pray before you respond and consider your reactions.

Overall, we all have an emotional response to things. It is important to pay attention to areas may need to work on in order to have a better response and outcome. Allow yourself to feel, then decide how you want to respond effectively. Forming healthy emotional responses is possible and necessary to maintain relationships, etc.

Now share with me what areas do you find yourself needing to work on? Can you do better with your emotional responses? Do you find yourself overreacting or not reacting at all at times? Pay attention to the cues you are giving to others with your behavior and physical ways of response. Learn to listen when others are impacted by your emotional responses and decide how you can do better. You do not want to regret any emotional response that you could have handled more effectively.

Don’t let anyone or anything make you believe you are stuck.There is always another way. Keep pressing on and find it. 

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