Tame the Emotional Monsters

Have you ever felt overwhelmed with anger, frustration, or guilt? Has the flood of emotion been so great that it has distorted your judgment and hampered your ability to behave appropriately? If you have ever been overtaken by emotional monsters, then you may appreciate knowing how to tame the beast.

The first important thing to remember is not to resist and not to act (just yet). It is important to welcome and accept your emotions, good and bad. See them as a way to learn about yourself. What are your emotions telling you? What can you discover about yourself? What are the needs behind your emotions?

Like small children, your emotions will keep pestering you until you pay attention to them. When you disregard or resist your emotions, telling yourself, I don’t want to or I shouldn’t feel this way, those feelings tend to intensify rather than fade. If you do manage to stuff them down for a while, they are going to pop up again, most likely at the worst time.

Jealousy, hostility, and pettiness are going to taint your relationships and make your life miserable. To avoid this you must tame these emotional monsters. Albert Einstein said, “Am I not destroying my enemies when I make friends of them?” Make friends with your emotions, be kind and accepting to them, but do not allow them to take you over.

Just as we should not let our friends control us; we do not allow our emotions to control us. Instead we listen to and learn from our emotions. As we do that, we will find the monster has turned into a choice friend.

Allow yourself to pause and fully accept and feel your emotions and then allow them to dissolve. You can then use what you learn about yourself to assertively meet your own needs. You can ACT rather than react.

Susan Derry, B.Ed., M.S.Psy., R.P.C.

Professional Counselor & Life Coach

Co-creator of a Healthy Weight Loss System.

Offers a free report: Weight Loss Myths Exposed