Journaling Emotions, Triggers, and Emotions

"How do I control my emotions? How do I stop getting angry so often, or how do I stop being sad? And I think there's a really important distinction to understand is that you can't completely control your emotions. What you control is your reaction to your own emotions. And a lot of people don't ever make that separation for what goes on with them." - Mark Manson

 

Emotions, from one end of the scale to another, are a given.  They were gifted to us by Creator.  We do not have much control over our body reactions to emotions.  But,, as Mark Manson says, we can control our REACTION to our emotions.  That is a powerful statement and it is something we knew, but some of us, me, for instance, do not take that step right away.  

I react in a hurry.  Angry, snotty (typically) retribution for someone out my mouth without thought and full of Ego.  A trigger will get flicked on and I make some really dumb decisions based on emotional triggers.  It may not even be about the person who crossed my invisible line.  It could be a trigger from early childhood, or earlier.  I do not always stop and pause a minute to ask for divine intercession of some kind.  I am getting better at holding my tongue and speaking firmly rather than bark whatever comes to mind in a moment of stress or sense of betrayal or sense of being put down...I am sorry a million times but I am getting better at stopping myself and give thought to how and what I might say.  Yes, I am sorry and I have had to forgive myself a million times too.  Gaining control of my emotions and that danged Evil Inner Witch, so I do not react so quickly, will only add to me having a more guilt-free life. I do try.  I do!

It is no good to suppress our emotions.  Our sense of every emotion is important, but sometimes, when we react, we are not using that gifted emotion for higher purpose. We need to feel them, but we need to also follow the thread of 'why' back to the original trigger.  This keeps the trigger from automatically firing.  

Staying in the negative emotion, whatever it might be, is a way not to ever release and dis-empower the trigger.  The trigger gets more fine-haired if we ignore or deny them.  As well, we may try to comfort ourselves or help deny more of the main trigger by even more unhealthy ways that merely verbally vomiting all over someone. 

Our emotions do not control us!   Seriously!  We control our emotions. Emotional maturity truly has to happen for there ever to be peace in our body, mind, heart and soul.  It does not matter if it is anger, sadness, fear, or whatever we react to and tend to hang on to;  staying in the emotion and not figuring out the trigger means your life will be whatever it is that you use to release. 

To change reactions, more than just seeking the trigger, we need to truly define what feeling you are having and the reality of the 'why'.  Anger is always the easiest emotion to feel.  It might be why someone is angry when one of their loved ones dies ( me, that was me and my sense of having my sweetheart die was like an ultimate rejection and abandonment - ah, the Primal Wound) .  I know that every death made me angry at god, too, for it felt like even God abandoned me.  "Here's a gift...oops, nope... you cannot have it."  I really had to take a long look at myself and my reactions and where they come from. One might feel anxious.  For me, filling in important papers, trying to fix a computer, can have me sweat buckets from anxiety.   I react out of frustration, as well.  I can feel it building and finally am learning to name what the real feeling is and where it comes from and that takes away the power and the powerful reaction. 

How we feel about the world, about life, is colored with the hues, the shadows, the light, of your emotions.  Starting each day with a positive mood/emotion will color everything that happens that day.  Somehow we need to not rise, in the morning, until we are grateful to.  Lay there until you can think of something positive.  As I have written before, Each morning, when I wake up, I think of one reason why Creator might have me live this one more day.  At night, I give thanks for the day and ask that I be allowed to rise in the morning.  Doing this every night and every day can change your life in that you are reframing your emotions.  

Every day, I do  something that makes my heart happy.  It is why I turn to my art within an hour after rising.  That reframes my thoughts and keeps me from over thinking things.  My art has been my salvation.. and salvation for others too, I might add.  Yes, there are times that it is a struggle, that is part of life, I am afraid.  At times my quick reactions override my reframing.  We have to take charge of our emotions.  Otherwise we feed our own negativity and we ride rollercoaster's emotions with everything finding a trigger to push. It is like a cyclone or twister takes over us, or we let it take over, I should say, and we become more and more muddled and on heightened sensitivities.  If we choose sadness or anger, we certainly can find those things to feed our psyche/Evil Inner Witch.  It is a constant work we must do to be mentally healthy.  

As you journal this topic, think of how you regulate your own emotions.  Consider what things trigger you and you allow it control.  What helps you be in control?  Maybe, what things do you allow to control you?  

©Carol Desjarlais 9.6.19