Working Backwards from the Emotion
Working through an emotional issue is often not easy. There are several strategies that people use, which disguise themselves as success. Some will distract themselves and others will compartmentalize the issue so much that they forget it. The issue is that without fail, the negative emotions resurface, break through the disguise, and leave behind new wounds to address.
If you are someone who recognizes a lack of emotional comfort, I recommend that you identify the emotion and work backwards from this to identify the source. This can be easy, and even uncomfortable at times. Identifying the particular emotion that you feel sounds easier than it is. Also, some people mistake being disengaged as contentment. They mistakenly feel as though feeling “numb” is as good as it gets. However, letting emotion in, even when it’s uncomfortable, is important in overall contentment. Depression, anxiety, and anger aren’t comfortable feelings to experience, but they can be used as great information if analyzed correctly. Thus, the benefit of being able to successfully identify a particular emotion gives you a starting point to work with. From here, you can then retrace your thoughts so that you can recognize the original source of your negative emotions. This is where you can work through what you may have filed away, ignored, or distracted yourself from, so that you can improve how you feel overall.
