Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Victorious Living

Home
Family, Parenting and Religion
5 Tips For Handling Your Emotions

5 Tips For Handling Your Emotions

Last updated on: September 9, 2019 at 1:45 pm by Victorious Living

5 Tips For Handling Your Emotions 2019-09-09T13:45:07-04:00 Victorious Living

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Emotions are a huge part of who we are and an essential ingredient in human relationships. Emotions are what drive us to other people and what tear us away from them. Living in intimacy with another person means emotions will inevitably get high. Circumstances, old wounds, and defense mechanisms will push our temperature up and inform how we communicate and behave.

We often talk about emotions ‘getting the better of us’. What we mean when we use this phrase is that our emotions are robbing us of the opportunity to excel in relationships. We recognize that our emotions sometimes drive us further from the actions and words that reflect the kind of person we most want to be.

These five tips will help you encounter your emotions honestly without letting them rob you of the kind of person you want to be and the kind of relationships you want to have.

1) Give Them Their Due

Emotions are not inherently evil. They are so easily out of control that the most popular approach is to swing to the other extreme and try to stuff or quiet them altogether.

Someone might say ‘I need to not be so angry’. This is not true. The truth is that we need to figure out how to handle our anger. In handling our emotions and following the tips below, we will start to see our emotions through a proper perspective.

Emotions are good. They are indicators that something of significance is happening. An emotion is an alarm that awakens us to the threat or affirmation of our purpose.

It is impossible to suffocate our emotions. They are there and will continue to be there. We need to acknowledge them and not be afraid of them, and we need to give ourselves some room to feel what we feel.

We must understand that the problem with emotions is not the presence of them but the way in which we respond to them.

2) Get the Order Right

When the alarm bell of an emotion awakens us, we often startle into action. We respond in a knee-jerk sort of way. We feel and then we act.

Emotions are valuable servants but terrible masters. When we act in direct response to our emotions, we give them a place of honor that is not properly theirs and we skip over an important ingredient in the human process.

Essentially, we get the order wrong. We Feel – Act – Think rather than Feel – Think – Act.

Emotions and mindset are dance partners. It takes two to tango. When we short circuit our thinking, we close ourselves off to half of the tools given to us to determine our actions.

Emotions

Healthy Communication

healthy communication

truth

values

Previous Post

April 4, 2018

Am I Willing to Die for the Things I Live for?

Next Post

April 9, 2018 The Romance Trap: Are You Falling For It?

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Choices Conflict Resolution Culture Change Emotions Failure Faith Fear Freedom V Growth Healthy Communication Hope Identity Influence Leadership Learn Mistakes Mood Curve Ownership Perspective Power Relationships Self-Awareness Self-Governance Systems Thinking Three Things You Control Transformational Leadership Trust Truth Uncategorized Values Vision

Select a Month January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who led the Israelites into the promised land after Moses?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Joshua Solomon David Samuel

Books by This Author Books by Victorious Living

See All Titles »