The Importance of Expressing Emotions

Emotions Can’t Be Selectively Numbed

Emotions work as a cooperative system; if you shut down one, you numb yourself as a whole. You cannot selectively only feel those emotions that you wish to feel.

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Feelings are not simply linear. Similar emotional experiences will present themselves at different times throughout our life, despite seemingly different circumstances. For example, being bullied by your boss at work can remind you of being bullied by your father when you were younger.

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One form of embracing our emotional life can include having the opportunity to transcend our repetitive experiences and bring in a broader experience.

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Numbing Your Feelings Often Causes Challenges

Emotions are at their essence information for your body. Just like we use mathematics for information so that we can safely build bridges and roads, our feelings provide us with information we need to heal wounds, repair relationships, integrate ourselves, and stay safe. And, similarly to mathematics, emotional information can be complicated.

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We can feel seemingly contradictory emotions at the same time, we contain emotions that are unconscious, and we can have beliefs that deflect emotion.

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Increasing one’s emotional intelligence can be challenging, however, the opposing course also presents its own challenges.

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Repressing or suppressing our feelings can be an attractive option, but in the long run can lead to cause self-abandonment, self-destructive behaviors, and even illness.

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Emotions Are Messages

Emotional awareness allows us to know what we feel and therefore advocate for what we, and those we love need.

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It’s not always easy to feel, and often times it can make situations and experiences more of a challenge in the short term. However, there is gold in those emotional hills if you can have will, the grit, and the perseverance to simply cultivate it.