Emotions and Thoughts - You can tame them

How are you doing these days?

Do you know that we can change the way we act when we focus on our thoughts and emotions in a different way?

We can tame our thoughts and emotions and live a meaning-filled life that is values-driven.

Not driven by other things that we do not choose.

Choose to live your life not to let your live drive you into burnout or worse.

Dr. Susan David, a psychologist working at Harvard Medical School, wrote a wonderful book called Emotional Agility that I can highly recommend. Her ideas can help you move forward towards a healthy values-driven life.

Her main point is that the more you fight an emotion or thought, the stronger that emotion (or thought) becomes.

Do not fight w “bad” thought or a “bad” emotion.

There is a better way.

Susan David gives many ways to deal with runaway thoughts and emotions and how to move forward, knowing that they are a part of us, but do not define us.

You and I  get to choose.

Here is a brief summary of her points on how to take care of yourself:

Be gentle with yourself and do not fight.

Some of the ideas David suggests are to begin with accepting our thoughts and emotions. She calls this gentle acceptance, which she says is the first step towards personal change. Have and keep a healthy routine.

The next step she suggests is to maintain our routine. Especially in times of uncertainty, routine can give us a foundation for moving forward.

We are one human being, not a brain, a heart, and a body.

She points out something that we know: that we are not three parts, but our minds, emotions and bodies are all one and very interconnected.

Be brave and remember that courage comes from the heart.

You and I need to take courage and face out emotions, knowing that they can be clues to a positive solution.

Keep your relationships and care for them. They help us stay well, too.

Then David moves onto suggesting that we stay connected to others, as we are social beings. Although a retreat for a while can be very good for us, self-isolation is often a sign of needing therapy, as you may know.

The most important part is that we need to know and live from our values. Keep your integrity intact and you will be able to sleep at night.

Finally, she encourages us all to live from our values, knowing that life is always full of positives and negatives, but when we live from our values, we keep our integrity intact.

There are many other pearls in this book, but these are a few.

So, I hope you are doing well.

Have a great week!

Patricia Jehle   patricia@jehle-coaching.com