Emotional Wellness: Tips to Get and Stay Positive
By Debra Rodzinak
In addition to the importance of maintaining good physical health with proper diet and exercise, maintaining emotional wellness is just as important. Managing your emotions with a well-balanced approach and figuring out your feelings can be very difficult. Your emotional wellness is vital to your relationships with those around you. Here are some tips to help you find the delicate balance of emotions in your life.
Be Aware of Your Thoughts and Feelings
When negative emotions spring up, take the time to become aware of what is causing these thoughts. Are there certain times or places when these emotions pop up? If you begin to recognize the where and why of your emotions, it becomes easier to work on the underlying reason for them. There are ways to deal with negative emotions like journaling, spending time alone in self reflection, or talking with a therapist.
Stay Positive
There is nothing wrong with being in a bad mood occasionally. However, when you get in the habit of staying in a negative attitude, your happiness suffers. Begin by noticing how often you stay negative with your thoughts, words, or actions. Then, consciously make an effort, when you have a negative thought, to replace it with a positive one. Sometime, negativity is just a bad habit that needs to be broken.
Seeking Help from a Professional
Burying your emotions only allows them to grow and burst out in another area of your life. There are no awards for the person who shows the least amount of emotion. Talking to a certified therapist or mental health professional does not show weakness of character, just the opposite. It takes a strong person who realizes that help is needed to take care of their mental health.
Maintaining Boundaries
Many of us are “people pleasers” and afraid to say “NO!” Other people see this and tend to take advantage or are just blissfully unaware that they have crossed a personal boundary. For example, if a coworker constantly asks you to “do this” or a family member seems to always be in dire straights and cannot manage without your help, you may need to tell them no from time to time. There is nothing wrong with being nice, but when it begins to interfere with your mental well-being, it is time to take steps to protect yourself.
Self-Acceptance
This one can be the hardest tip to follow, because we tend to be our own worst critic. If you wouldn’t let a stranger tell you “you’re fat” or “you can’t do that,” then why in the world would you tell yourself those negative statements? When you catch yourself with negative thoughts against yourself, stop, take a deep breath, and find something positive to say to yourself. This is not always easy at first, but will become a great habit over time.