Human beings are full of emotions: surprise, anger, joy, sadness, disgust and many others. But do we really know how each human being learns to deal with them?
In my opinion, first and foremost, emotions are something we learn to deal with throughout our lives. It’s like a volcano that we can’t deny or forget, but simply learn to manage in order to avoid the ultimate explosion.
Learning to experience emotions
From an early age, we learn to experience emotions. Inevitably, we learn to act accordingly. Whether it’s hitting, screaming, hiding or crying. Our parents have a major role to play in helping us learn to manage our emotions. The social behaviors around us therefore have a huge role to play in our taming of emotions. Emotions are a matter of socialization!
It’s good to question the importance of this subject. Well, here’s a simple example: if you’ve learned to use violent gestures during tantrums, once you’re an adult caught in a traffic jam, it won’t do you any good to hit the cars in front of you. In this situation, it’s perfectly normal to feel angry. However, once you’ve learned how to deal with it in a healthy way, you can take deep breaths and put on your favorite song to pass the time.
Managing emotions
So, now that that’s said, what do we do? As a parent, it’s important to analyze our actions and the way we manage our emotions…even when our child isn’t watching. This is no small task! The first step is to admit that we’re experiencing an emotion and try to name it. For people who are used to avoiding admitting their emotions, this step will be difficult! Once we’ve done this, we need to find ways of dealing with the emotion. For example, practicing a sport, going for a walk, singing or even screaming into a pillow. The most important thing is to forgive ourselves! Nobody’s perfect, and nobody manages their emotions perfectly at every opportunity. After all, we’re all human!
Can you see how these coping methods signal to your child that it’s normal to experience emotions, and that you simply need to learn how to deal with them in a healthy way? You can also refer the situation to a social worker, who can offer you a sympathetic ear and help you with this psychosocial process.
To finish off, here are a few ways I like to deal with my emotions: going paddleboarding, going for a walk, listening to music, watching funny videos and chatting with friends.
