Is it normal for feelings

Pick one emotion — like feeling glad. Track it all day. Notice how often you feel it. Maybe you're glad when something good happens. Or glad when a friend shows up. Maybe you're glad when someone lends you a hand or says a kind word. Or glad just because it's Friday. Every time you feel glad, make a mental note to yourself or write it down. Is the feeling mild, medium, or strong?

Learn new words for feelings. How many feeling words can you name? Try to think of even more. How many words are there for angry? For example, you might be annoyed , upset , or mad.

Irate , fuming , or outraged. Keep a feelings journal. Take a few minutes each day to write about how you feel and why. Writing about your feelings helps you get to know them better. Make art, write poetry, or compose music to express an emotion you feel. For example, a recent study suggests that there are 27 categories of emotion. People generally like to feel happy, calm, and good. You might express these feelings by smiling, laughing, or indulging yourself.

If enjoyment and its related feelings feel elusive, try to take a look at other emotions or feelings are getting in the way, such as:. Everyone feels sad from time to time. This emotion might relate to a specific event, such as a loss or rejection. But in other cases, you might have no idea why you feel sad.

If your sadness lingers or begins to have a significant impact on daily life and makes it hard to work, go to school, or maintain your relationships, it may help to talk to a therapist.

Fear happens when you sense any type of threat. Depending on that perceived threat, fear can range from mild to severe. Fear is a totally normal emotion — and one that likely kept your ancestors from being eaten alive — but there are things you can do to combat it:. Consider working with a therapist, who can help you navigate panic attacks , phobias, anxiety, and other mental health issues around fear. Anger usually happens when you experience some type of injustice.

This experience can make you feel threatened, trapped, and unable to defend yourself. There are a lot of ways to deal with anger, many of which can cause problems for you and those around you. The next time you find yourself in a huff, try these tips for managing anger in a more productive way:. Everyone gets angry from time to time. But if you feel like you have anger issues , a therapist can help you develop effective tools for dealing with these emotions.

For situations like these, you need something more accessible. The best way to reduce stress quickly is by taking a deep breath and using your senses—what you see, hear, smell, taste, and touch—or through a soothing movement. By viewing a favorite photo, smelling a specific scent, listening to a favorite piece of music, tasting a piece of gum, or hugging a pet, for example, you can quickly relax and focus yourself.

Of course, not everyone responds to each sensory experience in the same way. The key to quick stress relief is to experiment and discover the unique sensory experiences that work best for you. Video: Quick Stress Relief. Emotional intelligence EQ is the ability to identify, understand, and use your own emotions in positive ways to relieve stress and anxiety, communicate effectively, empathize with others, overcome challenges, and defuse conflict.

When it comes to happiness and success in your relationships, career, and personal goals, EQ matters just as much as the better known IQ. And even unpleasant emotions can have beneficial aspects.

Sadness can support emotional healing, for example, fear can trigger life-saving action, and anger can mobilize and inspire. But whatever your circumstances or challenges, the skills for improving EQ and managing your emotions can be learned at any time. Many of us struggle to manage our emotions. Our feelings can often seem like a wild horse, full of fear and uncontrolled energy.

They may cause you to freeze, act out, or shut down—making it difficult to think rationally, causing you to say and do things you later regret. Or you may go to great lengths to avoid difficult emotions by:. Distracting yourself with obsessive thoughts, mindless entertainment, and addictive behaviors.

Watching television for hours, drinking, gambling , overeating, playing computer games, and compulsively using smartphones or the Internet are common ways to avoid dealing with your feelings. Sticking with one emotional response that you feel comfortable with, no matter what the situation requires.

For example, constantly joking around to cover up insecurities or getting angry all the time to avoid feeling sad or anxious.

Shutting down or shutting out intense emotions. If you feel overwhelmed by your emotions, you may cope by numbing yourself. You may feel completely disconnected from your emotions, like you no longer have feelings at all. Instead of trying to ignore strong emotions, you can accept and tame them by taking up the reins and learning how to ride them.

This is where the Ride the Wild Horse mindfulness meditation comes in. The meditations focus firstly on your breathing and progressive muscle relaxation, and then on your current emotional state.

Learn how to relax and open yourself up to discovering physical and emotional sensations throughout your body. Move up to the intermediate meditation when you feel attuned to the feelings and sensations throughout your body. Learn how to identify the physical and emotional sensations in your body that stand out from the rest—that feel stronger or different.