Let’s take a deeper look at emotions, especially negative emotions, and see what causes them, the side effects, and also how you can deal with them positively for your wellbeing.

From an early stage, we all start experiencing different emotions. As we grow older we go through different experiences which shape our response to emotions.

Most people often take for granted their ability to feel and respond to emotions. Hardly do we stop and think about our feelings. We fail to see the impact both mentally and physiologically, or even how harmful it is to keep on holding onto our emotions in the long run.

What causes negative emotions and why do we have them?

As we explore negative emotions deeper, we will be able to know what causes them and even why we have them. The following can cause negative emotions:

  • The anxiety you feel when attending a job interview
  • Anger that comes with being stuck in traffic
  • The sadness you feel after a break-up Annoyance when a colleague hasn’t done the work for a big project and
  • Despair after being unable to follow a workout regime.

Emotions help you understand what is going on around you.

Negative emotions help you see threats and make you ready to handle any dangers positively.

Different emotions trigger different reactions and intensities.

How can we best control and deal with our negative emotions?

Mostly we don’t want to deal with our emotions, especially those that make us feel bad. Negative emotions in the present world are not a threat to us but being able to stop and overcome them would be beneficial to us.

Negative emotions are not a sign of low emotional intelligence rather it is normal, healthy, and helpful to our life. Every emotion has a purpose. Well-being is experienced when we start to explore more and understand each emotion and purpose behind it.

Human beings experience a full range of emotions in their lifetime because of the rapid change in situations. Don’t let emotions hijack your behavior because as we said earlier, emotions are a low-level reaction so decide how you want to react to them.

Here are six tips on dealing with negative emotions.

1.Learn from your body

When you are experiencing negative emotions, learn and understand what your body is trying to tell you. This is all about being self-aware of how you respond to certain emotions and understanding that those negative emotions have a purpose.

2. Expressing your emotions

If there is one thing about having negative emotions is that they urge us to express them. It is important that you also view this as a chance to learn more about yourself by exploring your reactions to negative emotions. Here you are learning to appreciate your instincts. You are also learning to allow them to exist without having any feelings of resentment towards them.

3. Acceptance

This is the next step from expressing your emotions. You will need to accept who you are as a human being. You then need to make yourself your friend. Positive affirmations can help make it easier and more efficient to accept yourself and help bring those negative emotions back to a place where you accept.

4. Re-appraise

Now that you have learned that how you react is a part of who you are, then you can start focusing on improving how you react to negative emotions. Simply put, you will need to find a way to react that is not detrimental to those around you as well as cause issues to you as well.

Just because you accepted who you are doesn’t mean that you accept poor behavior. Accepting is about being self-aware so that you can use this information to improve how you react to negative emotions.

5. Social support system

When you finally understand that everybody around you experiences one form of negative emotion or another, then this can help you understand and become empathetic to those around you. The difference lies in how we individually choose to react to our negative emotions. Understanding this can help us become more compassionate when we see them in danger.

6. Happiness and well being

This step involves finding the positive in our negative emotions. This prevents us from falling into a destructive cycle where we expensive negative emotions and act in a negative way. In this way, we can focus on the positive and this experience more happiness.

Observation

Here you take the time to evaluate your emotions objectively without exaggerating or suppressing them. You can then solve the emotions without using poor judgment.

Behavioral and physiological changes

While you are observing your negative emotions objectively, you will also need to observe your psychological state. Consider how you are breathing as well as your heart rate. Solve these psychological changes objectively caused by negative emotions.

State of happiness

By performing the above steps, you will finally have reached a state of positivity and happiness. You can now change to behavior that leads to your overall wellbeing and happiness. Now you know how to not let your negative emotions affect you and those around you.

A happy mind and intellect attracts happiness in life and enhances the quality of life. Strive to look for positivity and happiness with every chance you get. It will not only improve the quality of your life, but of those surrounding you as well.