How To Overcome Emotional Challenges
“I am bent, but not broken.
I am scarred, but not disfigured.
I am sad, but not hopeless.
I am tired, but not powerless.
I am angry, but not bitter.
I am depressed, but not giving up.”
We got that quote from HEALTHYPLACE.COM and we think it's the perfect thing to start our
video about embracing your emotions.
However, before we begin, why don't you subscribe to our channel and hit the notification button
as well.
We do occasional videos that will help you get through some of your darkest times.
Because if there's any one that wants to see you past the difficulties in your life, it's
your Bestie.
Alright, so we're going to talk about a very difficult thing to do today: surmounting emotional
challenges.
Everyone goes through hard times in their lives, whether it be the death of a family
member, a loss of something important to you, or just a chemical imbalance in your brain.
Today, we're going to go through some of the dos and don'ts of what you should do when
you're faced with a difficult time.
We'll first talk about how to embrace those emotions.
Finally, we'll talk about some of the things you can do in order to make your life more
positive.
First, let's go through the dos and don'ts of what to do when faced with emotional issues:
Do: Accept Emotions.
A part of overcoming intense emotional issues is to let those problematic feelings in.
What we're saying is to embrace them wholeheartedly, or in the very least look them in the metaphorical
eye.
Author BETH KURLAND explains it like this: "Imagine that you’re opening the door and
welcoming your emotions in, to come and have a seat somewhere in the room.
You can picture this seat as close to or as far away from you as you’d like.
From this perspective, you can take a gentle and curious look at what is there."
But how can you even do this?
It's hard, because the emotions are so powerful that you don't even want to face them.
Well, BETH KURLAND has some thoughts on that as well.
She says: "Often people will picture their emotions as having some kind of color, shape,
or form.
Sometimes they envision their emotions as cartoon characters or as younger parts of
themselves.
Part of the practice is simply to accept whatever arrives."
While we know how hard it may be, really try to practice this.
We know it might sound silly, but it's a coping mechanism that works wonders.
Don't: Become Too Anxious.
While we're supposed to accept our emotions, we can't let them take over our lives.
This is especially true when it comes to anxiety.
Anxiety is a very powerful feeling and can ruin just about any one's life.
PSYCHOLOGY TODAY explains the difficulties of anxiety like this: "Rampant anxiety ruins
our equilibrium, colors our mood, and makes all the already hard tasks of living that
much harder."
We're going to talk a little later in the video about all the ways you can overcome
anxiety, so stay tuned in order to learn that.
Do: Exercise.
One of the best things you can do when you're faced with an emotional crisis is to go out
and exercise.
8 FIT.COM explains the emotional connection between physical activity and our feelings
like this: "Working out leads to changes in your brain, such as increased blood flow and
the creation of new neural pathways.
Hormones such as endorphins, serotonin, dopamine, and testosterone are also released in response
to increased physical activity".
Just in case you didn't know, endorphins, serotonin, dopamine, and testosterone are
things that reduce discomfort, enhance pleasure and improve self-esteem (endorphins), controls
your appetite, helps you sleep sounder, and regulates your mood (serotonin), signals that
reward and pleasure centers in our brain’s, which help motivate us to take action and
work towards things that make us feel good (dopamine) and increases your metabolism,
muscle growth and libido (testosterone).
Don't: Blame.
One of the worst things you can do in a situation where you're feeling intensely is to blame.
Think about it– your ex probably isn't seeing a new person to make you feel depressed (unless
they're a real jerk, in which case you shouldn't get upset about them anyway, because, you
know, they're a jerk).
So you shouldn't blame other people for the way you feel, it just makes you lose control
and with that, you spiral and spiral and suddenly, you're in that hole again.
You also shouldn't blame yourself.
For example, say you experienced a death, that wasn't your fault either.
Again, blaming yourself and others is the wrong thing to do, and it makes you lose your
grip over your feelings.
KIDS HEALTH.ORG says it best: "Your feelings are there for a reason — to help you make
sense of what's going on".
So embrace them.
Let them help you and move on to becoming a more positive person.
Speaking of which...
Next, we're going to look at some ways to make yourself more positive, as well as some
tips to combat some of the harder emotions in your life.
We call this section: "Positivity Training".
Training Method Number 1: Combat Anxiety.
We talked earlier about not letting anxiety control your life, however, this can be easier
said than done.
As we said, it's a powerful emotion and can affect every little thing in our lives.
However, we're here to share some tips on combating this awful, striking feeling.
Training Method Number 2: Be Grateful.
This is really hard because it sucks being grateful for the cruddy hand you've been dealt
in life.
However, even PSYCHOLOGY TODAY says it's one of the best ways to overcome negativity.
They say that: "One of the quickest ways to shift your focus away from negativity, judgment,
and disappointment is to list the things in your life for which you are grateful".
Look at all the positives: be thankful for your family, for that nice person who smiled
at you in the streets, for being employed, for being healthy, or at worst, for being
alive.
You can do this by keeping a gratitude journal, something you can look at whenever you're
down and you can remember all the things in life to be happy about.
Or, PSYCHOLOGY TODAY also recommends that you have a gratitude partner.
Their method goes like this: "Each day, text, email or tell each other three things for
which you are grateful.
Think of this person as your accountability partner for your path to healthy thinking."
Our way is that you should think of every day like it's Thanksgiving.
Tell everyone all the things you're thankful for!
Training Method Number 3: Smile.
Again, this may seem like something that's incredibly hard, especially when your life
seems like it's going down hill.
However, it's actually a psychological method to trick your body into happiness.
Things like depression, anxiety and other forms of emotional issues can take a toll
on your physical health, so anything you can do to make your body feel better is helpful!
PSYCHOLOGY TODAY proves this point when they say: "The simple act of smiling, even if you
don’t necessarily have anything to smile about, can instantly change the way you feel
internally".
So smile while you're at work, when you're at home, when you're feeling down.
If you REALLY want to feel good about yourself, smile at other people!
You never know when you're going to brighten someone else's day with those beautiful, pearly
whites of yours!
Training Method Number 4: Do Something Nice.
Speaking of brightening someone else's day, the best way you can feel good about yourself
is to do something nice for someone else.
Spreading joy outwardly inevitably spreads joy inwardly, it's just science.
In fact, the mind experts at THE CONVERSATION confirm this fact.
They say: "research shows that being kind to others can actually make us genuinely happy
in a number of different ways.
We know that deciding to be generous or cooperating with others activates an area of the brain
called the striatum.
Interestingly, this area responds to things we find rewarding, such as nice food and even
addictive drugs."
Apparently, doing nice things is as effective on the brain as doing drugs, except without
all the awful stuff like addiction and destroying your body!
In fact, you're just making someone else's life better!
It's a win win!
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Training Method Number 5: Change Your Language.
Language is a huge part of a person's positivity.
Here are some examples of the everyday changes you can make to your language in order to
become more positive:
"No problem" turns into: "Definitely!"
"Can’t complain" turns into "Everything’s going well, thanks"
"I’m exhausted" turns into "I need to rest"
"I forgot" turns into "I’ll make sure to set a reminder next time"
"Constructive criticism" turns into "Feedback"
"I missed you so much!"
turns into "It’s so great to see you!"
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And there are so much more!
The important thing to remember is to focus on the positives of every thing you're saying.
So listen to the context and switch the negative words into positive ones.
Again, these may seem trivial, but every little change counts on the path to becoming a healthier
human.
And that just about wraps it up.
We hope you learned something about embracing your emotions and if not, we wish we could've
helped some more.
If you're someone who has either learned from this video or possibly have some emotional
coping methods of your own, please leave us a comment in the comments section below.
You never know when your words might help someone in need.
And always remember, you're worth it and somebody loves you.
We might not know you, but we love ya nevertheless.