It’s crazy how many people throughout society today would rather cut their right arm off than have to open up about their negative feelings. By ignoring the fact they’re feeling anything at all, people will somehow make those negative emotions disappear… right? DEAD WRONG!!
Ignoring your emotions really translates to suppressing them, sending them deep down into your sub-conscious. Like if you hold onto something really gross and don’t let it out, there is a very good chance it will literally fester and you will become very sick somewhere down the line. But what exactly do I mean when I tell you to ‘open up’?
Many people in the ‘cancer community’ have long-held that suppressed anger (a negative emotion) is a major factor in the causes of several different types of cancer. Most Eastern and many Western health practitioners agree, that when you suppress your negative emotions deep into the far reaches of your mind, they will eventually manifest themselves as some sort of physical or psychological ailment.
Communication May Lead to Happiness
I was born/raised a Buddhist and one of my favorites ideas in the practice was that “world peace begins with a single individual. When each of us finds emotional happiness within ourselves, that is (essentially) world peace.”
Think about all the needless deaths and diseases that could actually be prevented if we could learn how to communicate our negative feelings? The opposite of negativity is positivity… which is synonymous with ‘happiness’! Maybe we’re not so far away from world peace after all?
One reason it’s so important to open yourself up to others is that you truly encourage others to open up as well! We know how detrimental it is to not open up about our negative emotions. Below are three different ways that you may be inadvertently diverting your negative emotions; by over-compensating, avoiding and telling people what they want to hear.
Why It’s Important
To Open Up
Being a Caregiver
Have you ever heard someone say “it’s much easier to help others when you are feeling down, yourself”? When it comes to being in a caregiving role, whether it’s a temporary or full-time situation, the person ‘taking care’ better have a thick skin!
It’s an emotionally taxing job but that’s exactly why the caregiver volunteered (or applied) for the position. They’ll try to immerse herself in the patient’s problems as a way of deflecting attention on problems of her own.
The irony is that instead of taking care of her own emotional needs, she’ll (once again) ignore them so she can help the person in front of her who is in more ‘critical’ care.
Working for Avoidance
You know those people (and you know you’ve done this yourself) who arrive at the office early and leave late? All day long they’re running around, so busy that you never quite catch them to talk. This is what I like to call ‘working for avoidance’.
Of course, the ‘work’ in this example is likely to be ‘busy work’ created with the clear intention of seeming so focused. Truthfully they cannot stop for anything, otherwise, they risk losing their ‘outlet’ for their fear-based behavior.
Controlling the Narrative; “I’m Ok, I’m Ok…”
Everyone gets that feeling of just wanting to be left alone. In order to achieve this, you’ll say you’re ‘ok’ and that you are ‘fine’ to avoid anyone trying to dig deeper into your feelings.
Ultimately, the best people in your life will realize something is going on with you… and they will hound you to no end about it! By not admitting that something is bothering you to someone else, it makes you feel like you don’t even have to admit it to yourself.
Allow yourself the opportunity to say something is wrong and get the help that you need and deserve. When feeling down about yourself, you may feel the need to be in control of situations. If you are in control of things, you won’t slip up and say how you feel.
Everyone has problems. You are not alone. You deserve to be happy and should strive for that each day. Open up to other people about your problems and seek help. You are doing more damage to your body than good if you conceal your feelings. Once you get those feelings out, you’ll be amazed at the weight that will have been lifted from your shoulders.
A Note From the Editor:
The categories on this site have changed around more in nearly four years than I ever thought possible! Yet, there’s always been a solid foundation of small business, blogging/social media posts to come back to. Over the past year, we’ve shifted gears yet again, only to find ourselves venturing into the Health & Wellness niche, thanks to some of our most popular pieces this past year!
For mostly personal reasons but also, with the success we’ve had in the Health & Wellness niche, we’re currently developing a new website that will be dedicated strictly to that (very broad!) niche. Alegria’s Muse will remain and continue to focus on more specific avenues within the small business & startup culture. We invite you to
Jessica Rose Adams
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