The gift and power of emotional courage
Being sensitive and feeling your emotions is powerful and positive. But for centuries we’re thinking quite the opposite.
We rather hide what we’re feeling. We think feeling emotions makes us weak and vulnerable and that being sensitive is something only for women.
We’ve been wrong all this time.
Our negative attitude towards feeling emotions is what is causing the problems in our society:
- stress and burnout
- increasing number of teenagers suffering from depression
- increasing number of teenagers and men wanting to commit suicide
- people who are not able to deal with their anger and fear in a healthy way and take it out on others
There are too many people living a life suited to other peoples wants and needs instead of their own desires. They’ve lost touch with their feelings and never dealt with the difficult aspects of their lives. Because of this they’ve lost their voice, they’ve lost their power and this influences their self-worth.
There are too many children barely starting out on their lives and already experiencing burdensome situations. Life changing events, when experienced in childhood years, can have severe consequences later in life. These children are going to be at risk for any kind of physical health, mental health and social health problem.
We are starting to understand that not feeling and avoiding to talk about our feelings is what is causing our problems.
By accepting and dealing with our difficult emotions we will found a solution to our problems. By feeling our emotions and examining our thoughts and beliefs we are able to change our behavior and our life. By looking back at our traumatic experiences and healing our emotional wounds we can change our existing beliefs and start making healthier choices.
In this TEDTalk psychologist Susan David explains how this works.
The most agile, resilient individuals, teams, organizations, families, communities are built on an openness to the normal human emotions ~ Susan David
