Strategies I use to Cope with Negative Feelings

Photo by Israel Torres

Daily writing prompt

What strategies do you use to cope with negative feelings?

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Everyone has negative feelings. I know I’m not the only one. Over the years, I’ve tried to come up with a few things to do to help myself get out of the negative emotions I feel, but the best thing that always works for me is to actually feel them. I don’t try to ignore my negative emotions anymore. I let myself be sad, angry, and frustrated. I don’t push them down and say that “I don’t feel them,” or my usually go-to “It doesn’t matter.”

Now, I try to let myself feel however I feel. The key is to not let your emotions rule your actions. The best thing that I ever realized was the fact the I am not my emotions. Emotions are a part of me but they are not the entirety of me. My emotions have led me down very great and not-so-great paths. I can thank them for the courage I had to pursue the love of my life but I can also be mad it for doing reckless things when I knew they were wrong. Realizing that my emotions are not ALL of me helped me realize that it was okay to feel negative emotions.

Just because I have negative emotions doesn’t mean that they have to rule my day. I can feel a certain way and still maintain my ownership. If I feel a negative emotion, I let myself feel it and analyze it for what it is. For example, if/when I feel like I’m not as successful as I’m supposed to be at a certain age, I remind myself that this state of envy comes from comparing myself to others. It’s not something I started; it was something that was handed down to me from generation to generation in my culture. “If you aren’t doing better than your neighbor/cousin/friend, you’re not successful.” This kind of thinking stops you from enjoying yourself every day by comparing yourself to someone else ALL the time.

The truth is there is always going to be someone better at something than you, but they are not you. There’s nothing wrong with being you. So I let myself feel what I feel, analyze those emotions, summarize how I feel and what I can do about all that is in my control. I can’t control how well/not well a person does in their life, nor do I want to. All I can do is make sure that I do MY best. As long as I do that, I can be happy with myself!

Thanks for Reading

-Navi