Managing emotions intelligently means channeling emotions to maintain balance and harmony. In this way, we can be a positive force for ourselves and all those around us, and prevent our emotional world from drawing us from vital energy. Some approaches to managing emotions intelligently are:
1. Understand that negative emotions do not exist: Emotions have a reason for existing. It is therefore a mistake to classify them as positive or negative. We must take into consideration that there are stimuli that make us experience certain emotions. This is inevitable. Fear, for example, is a response to threat situations. If we did not try it, we would have reckless conduct that would endanger our integrity. Anger, in turn, is also a defensive response, whose role is to prepare us for attack when there is a danger.
2. Allow yourself to feel to manage emotions: Emotions are not born or disappear for no reason. Therefore, repressing what we feel is not a correct way to manage them. Trying to overwhelm what you feel only postpones your expression. What has been suppressed sometimes returns badly. First, then, it must be understood that all emotions are legitimate and have a full right to exist and to express themselves. If we accept what we feel, it will be much easier to manage emotions. Not accepting implies creating confusion that will result in an internal storm.
3. Try to understand the reason for the emotion: The best way to manage emotions is by accepting and understanding them. To achieve this, it is essential that we increase our ability to observe them and the motives that generated them. Just paying attention to them already allows us to begin channeling them.
4. Be critical of your own thinking: Although it may not seem that way, many of our thoughts come up mechanically. These are interpretations of reality that are sometimes grounded and sometimes not. Sometimes they are the result of reasoning, and sometimes not. Thought is not reality, but a filter for reality. It causes us to feel a certain way about what happens and, on many occasions, leads us to misunderstandings. For example, thought may tell us that some difficulty is a hassle. But it could also tell us that it is a challenge, an opportunity. However, this only happens when we dare to question these ideas, and not simply get carried away by them.
