Learn to Manage Your Emotions Wisely

Manage emotions wisely

In commenting about emotions, Dr. Bailey, spoke of the importance of learning to manage them wisely (Artikel Personality Development). How can this be done? How Can You Learn to Manage Your Emotions Wisely?

You can begin by considering what an important part emotions play in everyday life. Your emotions are a part of almost everything you do. Such feelings as happiness and affection add zest to living and make life worth while. And there is certainly a place in the world for such strong emotions as fear and anger. Fear of accidents and injuries aids in keeping you safety-minded, and anger over cruelty or destructiveness has helped to bring about many needed social changes and reforms. Thus the problem is not to get rid of emotions; it is to learn how to develop such emotions as those of happiness and affection – and how to cope wisely with strong feelings such as those of anger and fear.

Cultivating Such Emotions as Affection and Happiness

Your feelings of affection can “get through” to other people. Show by your smile, your facial expressions, your words, or your actions the love you feel for your parents and other family members – and the affection you have for your friends.

Your family and your friends have a basic emotional need for love and affection – as you do; they will have a hard time knowing how you feel about them if you never show your emotions.

Try to find hobbies or kinds of recreation that give you fun and relaxation. Everyone needs some activities into which he can throw himself completely and with pleasure.

Look for opportunities to do things for others. Some of your most satisfying feelings can come from doing things for others.

Managing Hurt or Angry Feelings

Perhaps you have thought that you ought to try to achieve such “self-control” that you would never become angry or show your anger. On second thought, however, you can see this really would not be desirable, for it is quite natural to become angry at cruelty or unkindness or destructiveness. If no one ever became angry, such things might never be stopped.

It is natural, too, for you to feel hurt or even angry when you think you are not being treated fairly or are being left out of things unfairly.

Out first impulse when we are hurt or angry is often to hit out at or hurt another person either physically or by cruel words. Such behavior can have serious consequences for ourselves and for the other person. It is essential that we learn to control this destructive kind of anger.

Of course, we cannot keep hurt or angry feelings locked up inside us for very long, either. As long as we have such feelings, we will be irritable and unhappy. Nor can we readily hide these feelings. They may come out disguised in such ways as teasing or bullying; or the angry feelings we try to keep bottled up may be expressed as physical ailments such as headaches.

Because we all do feel angry and hurt now and then, we need to learn constructive ways of managing these emotions – ways that keep us from hurting others or ourselves.

In last article, What can I do when I feel angry or hurt?, there are some helpful ideas about managing angry feelings constructively.