With reference to creating and living in our own worlds, I’d like to share a few ideas and suggestions on managing our emotions, and as a result making the most of ourselves. I delivered a presentation on the subject last week, and got to talking as above about how, each of us individually, we create and we live in our own worlds – that is, how we make sense of, perceive and interpret our ‘reality’, based on everything we’ve previously experienced.
These perceptions and interpretations are likely to influence and be influenced by our emotions. In this sense, the former can have an impact on the latter, and vice-versa.
We live in our worlds and are unique in this way, since we
– have all had different experiences
– come from different backgrounds and environments
– have had different upbringings
– don’t all learn all the same things in exactly the same way
– have different genetic make-ups
and so on.
Why I believe this to be important is that our emotions can sometimes get in the way of our making the most of ourselves. If this is happening more often than is good for us – getting stressed, anxious, feeling down – then it’s likely to be helpful if we can find a way to change the world that we’ve created for ourselves via our perceptions, interpretations, how our world interacts with other worlds/people and our environment.
If we have a good understanding of our own world – who we are, why we think, feel and behave the way we do, what drives us – then there’s a good chance we’ll have a better understanding of that of others too.
(There are of course myriad reasons why making the most of ourselves can be difficult for us on occasion, and it goes without saying that our worlds can be negatively affected, in the short term or longer term, by for example previous or current unpleasant/stressful life events and situations, or painful loss).
If we are looking to make more of ourselves, and our emotions are getting in the way, I’d like to put forward a few suggestions we can try (more of/more often) as follows:
✨ Remember the relationship between thoughts, feelings and behaviours
✨ Be mindful and present
✨ Ask “What am I feeling and why am I feeling it?”
✨ Shun pointless self-criticism
✨ Remember that you are/have been resourceful in the past
✨ Practice optimism
✨ Be self-compassionate
✨ Focus outwards, not inwards (what’s around you)
✨ Practice hopefulness
✨ Let go of anything that I’m holding on to in an unhelpful way that’s beyond my control
Take a look at this post for more on emotions