Do you tend to look on the sunny side, or do you see a future filled with dark, stormy skies?
Keeping your emotional well-being balanced is no easy task. Feelings can be hard to figure out and at times, might appear to be out of your control. We suffer many emotional injuries daily, yet we spend more time each day taking care of our teeth than we do our minds. Your mental and emotional health influences how you think, feel and behave daily. It also affects your ability to cope with stress, overcome challenges, build relationships, and recover from life’s setbacks and hardships. You should apply the same vigor to manage your emotional health as you apply to your physical health.
Consider these five tips to help you manage your emotional health:
- Become aware of your thoughts and feelings. Sometimes emotions or moods come and go with no rhyme or reason, and it’s difficult to understand what causes you to have negative emotions. Take time to become more aware of certain thoughts or environmental triggers and work on controlling them. Meditation, journaling or spending time alone can help you get to know yourself better.
- Stay positive and harness the power of a grateful attitude. We all get in a bad mood from time to time and that’s normal, but constantly maintaining a negative attitude will eat away at your internal happiness. Noticing how often you think or say negative things is the first step towards having a positive attitude. Then you can work on limiting the amount of negative thoughts and speech you use every day. Keep a Gratitude Journal or list, or ask a friend or family member to point out when you are being a “Negative Nancy”. People who are grateful for what they have, are more able to cope with stress and are better able to reach their goals.
- It’s okay to ask for help. You won’t get a prize for being the one who can bury their emotions the deepest, and it doesn’t make you strong to keep the emotional turmoil all to yourself. Talking to someone you trust can be all you need to ease the negative emotions brought on by a bad day. If you need more help, seek out a professional health care provider.
- Set up boundaries in your life to protect your mental well-being. While it’s best to be nice to others in your life, it’s up to you to let them know what is or isn’t acceptable for you. Advocating for yourself and your emotional needs will keep you from feeling overwhelmed by other people’s expectations and behaviors.
- It’s okay to give yourself a break and let the self-judgment and self-doubt go. Constantly talking negatively about yourself will shatter your confidence and make you feel uneasy in the world and with yourself. Negative self-talk will cloud your mind and cause increased levels of stress. Highlight the positive traits of yourself and your life, and avoid measuring and comparing your own worth with those around you.
Being able to manage your emotions and have healthy relationships with others is vital to your emotional wellness. Most of us pay close attention to threats to our physical well-being as soon as they occur. We avoid pitfalls by tending to our physical health, resting and drinking water and making sure we get adequate sleep on most nights. Yet the way we neglect our emotional health is profound. Our mind can only take so much stress before it breaks down.
“When you learn how to treat psychological wounds and teach your children how to do so as well, you will not only build emotional resilience, you will thrive.” – Guy Winch
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To Your Success,
Althea
Althea A. McLeish Wilson, RN, MSN
Promoting inner health & outer beauty!
Helping you thrive, not just survive!!
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