Accepting and Trusting Your Own Feelings
Sometimes it can be difficult to know what you are feeling, but it can also be challenging to accept and trust your feelings. For people with CEN, it’s easy to push down or stuff away feelings because it may lead some to feeling like they are a bad person or will burden others with them. It’s important to tune into the emotions and follow these three rules:
Emotions are not bad.
Although feelings are uncomfortable, they give us a lot of information. Most people have experienced feeling discontent, rage, and jealousy at one time or another. Try not to judge yourself for the feeling itself, rather the more important part of accepting the emotion is what you do about it.
Feelings do not always make sense, but they are there for a reason.
We may not be able to draw a logical conclusion about where an emotion comes from, but when we take a look at it, we can often find a connection to an experience or belief that is under the surface. A little exploration can go a long way.
Emotions can be powerful but are manageable.
If you’ve ever had a feeling of anger or irritation simmering inside of you, you know the effect it can have on your day or on the people around you. When we can acknowledge the feeling and take ownership of it, working to accept it, we can start to fight it off. Inevitably, holding space for your emotions allows for the feeling to be “seen and known” which can diminish some of its potency.
To value the feelings that you may be having while also managing them in a productive way, follow these steps:
Identify the feeling
Accept the feeling without judgement
Attribute the feeling to a cause
Act appropriately if the emotion calls for it
Take some time to sit with your feelings. What are you feeling now? Do you need to make space in your day or your life to connect with your thoughts and feelings? This process isn’t easy by any means, but it’s worth taking the time to understand what’s going on inside and give yourself the time you deserve to be healthier and happier.