I always admired people with a strong exterior; those with the ability to tap in and out of their emotions on command, especially in times when something pressing or uncomfortable may be on their minds.
How easy I’ve watched friends of mine who were going through some sort of emotional turmoil go out into the world and convey an image of happiness and security. Whether that image was genuine or feigned, they still managed to rise above their feelings and act out a different story.
I’ve never been one of those people. I’ve always been an easy read, unable to put up the façade that my life was perfect in moments when it felt the farthest from it. And I’ve never liked that about myself, considering it to be one of my “weakest” qualities. Lately I’m beginning to think differently though.
The word emotional in our world today often times has a negative connotation to it. We perceive a so called “emotional person” to be the most extreme of the definition; someone who may lack the ability to see things clearly; someone who is irrational or hysterical; someone overly passionate and excited.
Somehow this word that is really defined by one’s connection to how they process their emotions has transformed into an Achilles heel; a trait undesired yet innate to all of us. What if instead of shutting ourselves off from emotion, we let it in?
Here are five reasons why being a person in tune and connected to emotion is a positive and natural thing:
1) We are all here to learn and grow as people. The only way we are able to do so is to experience a wide array of emotions, both on the scale that we consider to be positive and negative. Feeling those emotions to their full degree opens us up to wisdom and insight about ourselves.
2) Being cut off from emotion doesn’t necessarily make one strong. In fact, it may indicate the opposite. Those who are willing to confront their feelings head on aren’t afraid to recognize the truth of a situation, and most likely will better navigate different circumstances in the future because of it.
3) Emotions can act as intuition. We know how we truly think about things by how they make us feel. It is our own personal guidance system leading us to make decisions that are best suited and healthy for us.
4) Most people who consider themselves to have no feelings (which isn’t possible), deep down wish they were able to be more open with themselves and others. Most of my friends who feel cut off from emotion admit they wish they allowed themselves to feel more degrees of it.
5) The only things that are really real in this life are our feelings. Nothing else will matter at the end of our lives than how we felt throughout it, and how we made others feel.
Whether you have labeled yourself as a feeler or not, we are all equal in that we are made up of the same things. Instead of trying to overcome and get rid of emotion, our best route may be to just open up and embrace it.
