How do you handle strong emotions? ”
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“Those of us who grew up in America, particularly men, are taught not to show emotion. I was reflecting on this last night, and realized that I try to hide emotion by holding it in. But it takes a lot of tension and pressure on myself to keep the emotion inside. And I’m not actually hiding it at all, of course – what happened last night was my wife called me out on how angry I was, even though I was trying so hard to “stay calm”. And beyond the moment, the long-term effects of the tension to hold emotion in can be traumatic on the heart and body.”
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“So what is the alternative? What I’ve been learning is that instead of using all that energy to keep the emotion inside, I can potentially recognize the emotion, actually feel the emotion, and then let it go. Once we have acknowledged and felt the emotion, we don’t need to hold it in place with tension. ”
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“I won’t pretend I’m a Zen Buddhist monk who can do this consistently. But I am seeing the downsides of my current patterns, and am curious to explore other possibilities. As one of my coaches said, the first step towards change is saying “It doesn’t have to be this way.””
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“What are your learnings around emotional management and responsibility? ”
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“#mindfulness #personaldevelopment #emotionalintelligence