No one enjoys feeling rough in an emotional context. At least, I would like to think no one does, unless you’re a sadist or some shit. But, realistically, we are not going to live every day feeling our absolute best, and there will inevitably be days throughout life in which we feel lower than low.
For a very long time, I tried to abstain from acknowledging when I was feeling sad or down because I figured allowing myself to feel those feelings would only intensify them. I knew they were there, but I would sort of shove them deep down and figure they would eventually disipate. I was under the impression this was an effective tactic until an incident I had a few months back, during which I realized how badly my plan backfired.
The situation involved me feeling a tremendous amount of anxiety toward a specific situation. In the weeks and days leading up to said situation, my anxiety continued to worsen, and I gaslit myself into believing it would still pass by the time I had to face the scenario. I was so wrong it wasn’t funny, and the amount of anxiety and fear I felt in that moment was enough to rock me for a long while.
As awful as this predicament was, it taught me a very important lesson about the importance of allowing ourselves to actually feel our feelings. How often do we find ourselves in tears, only to try our utmost hardest to stop them from falling, when in reality, permitting ourselves to feel the sadness is arguably the better way to find release and relief?
I suspect a lot of us are guilty of the way I approached my own emotions for so long, and I’m here to tell you it isn’t healthy, mentally or physically. Feel your feelings, people. We’re only human.
Photo by Tom Pumford on Unsplash
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