Image by: PDPics
By Dave Andrews
As we go through life, we experience emotions and feelings that can make us uncomfortable. Most men would choose to hide it so as not to affect their image and not to be perceived as weak. However, suppressing emotions can have a huge impact on us physically, mentally and spiritually.
In my circle of friends, Henry is the tallest and has the biggest frame. He goes to the gym almost every day and carries a very masculine aura with him.
Though he has this “macho” image, he is the most emotional man I’ve ever known. He’s never felt ashamed to show his sensitive side.
Let yourself be vulnerable.
Last year, his mother passed away due to ovarian cancer. Man, he cried like I’ve never seen before. Our two other friends and I had to hold him up and tried to calm him down during the funeral.
After a couple of months, our crew had the chance to get together and talk about our lives. Nobody wanted to ask Henry directly how he was really feeling, thinking that it would be awkward. And nobody in the group really had experience in dealing with emotions like that before.
But somehow, Henry felt that we all wanted to know if he was doing alright. He told us that he was still in the healing process and though he knew what was going to happen, he was never prepared for it.
Give yourself time to heal.
He felt extremely sad, but he believed that his mother was in a better place. He also told us that everything’s going to be alright with him. Perhaps, not the same as before, but he assured us that everything was going to be okay.
While he was talking, I wished to myself that I could be more like him. Henry’s strength is remarkable and is something that I think I really lack.
When my ex-GF broke up with me, I was completely lost. For the record, I never brought it up with my friends and didn’t really tell them what happened.
When you refuse to accept your emotions, you are also refusing to be healed.
I just closed myself off from everyone and it affected my whole being. I tried to keep everything inside and hide from my friends how messed up I was feeling.
On the outside, I have my life together, but deep inside, I’m insecure and hurting. I built an emotional dungeon and it made me really sick from the inside out.
To deal with your uncomfortable emotions in a healthy manner, you have to connect with yourself.
Avoid being in denial and acting detached. Embrace the pain. Remember that you are allowed to feel that way.
In the piece by The Ambrose Girls on Elite Daily, the writers explain why it’s okay to send a double blow up, texting someone twice you didn’t receive a response the first time.
It may look embarrassing and desperate, but it’s worth the risk to win someone you really like.
Just keep it real and authentic and the rest should work itself out.
If you are the problem, you have the solution.
“You Are Your Only Real Competition” is a 3-minute video by James Tew exploring how resisting can get in the way of our success.
As entrepreneurs, we are always worried about what the competition is doing when in fact we should be worried about doing our best work.
For me, the most striking part is when he said, “The common denominator between your success and failure is you.” The same principle applies when we are dealing with life in general.
Holding our emotions back can get in the way of our happiness and can stop us from being the best version of ourselves.
You can attain emotional freedom through forgiveness.
In “7 Ways Forgiveness Frees You,” writer Pam Levin probes on the pain of dealing with emotionally heavy burdens.
It may be hard to believe, but forgiveness far exceeds misery, heartache, hatred, uneasiness and all other negative energies that put you down.
I am not saying that when you forgive, all the pain will go away. However, each time you’ll remember it, you’ll build inner strength that’ll help you face obstacles that life will throw your way.
Never let your repressed emotions define and consume you.
Instead of avoiding it, learn to deal with it. Identify its nature so that you can work through it because if you don’t, it will have negative effects on your overall health and well-being.
And to give your appearance some pride while you’re on your journey to emotional freedom, check this out – “Hairstyles for Thinning Hair.”
Your emotions are a big part of who you really are. They are you in your most authentic state, at your deepest place. Just keep in mind that trapped emotions could kill you. Let them go and choose life.