We live in a world of appearances and performance. And because of this, we sometimes deny what we truly feel. Anxiety, sadness, grieving… Sometimes, we are acting fine. It seems like we have a limited time to get it together. Afterward, we are kindly requested to perform again.
Pressure to Look Fine
Family and work-life can be sources of pressure. Your kids are looking up to you, and you want to give them your best. You want to be there for them, but if you care for your job, you don’t want to let personal issues drag you down or let your boss know he/she is stressing you out. You don’t want to appear weak, so you put your pretty face on. You mask what you truly feel. Here is the thing, denying your emotions is like putting a top on a boiling cooker. Eventually, the pressure will blow it out, and at the moment you least expect it. You need to be kind to yourself and take a moment to deal with your negative emotions.
How to Manage Your Negative Emotions?
1. Identify and Acknowledge your emotion
You need to agree that right that moment, you are not feeling good. You are feeling weak, sad, stressed, mad, or whatever the case may be. Identify it. I am not telling you to dwell in the negative emotion, but to accept it.
2. Give it away
You don’t need to go through this alone, Jesus is available to carry your burden for you. This negative emotion is not serving you, so you can let it go. Only you can decide wheter to stay in it or to give it away.
Close your eyes, identify the feeling, welcome it, and give it away to God.
What does the Bible Tells us About Negative Emotions?
1 Peter 5:6-7 reads: 6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. 7 Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
When you acknowledge that you are not able, you recognize that God is able. You let Him in.
We have the privilege to have someone ready to take our worries, our anxiety, our negative emotions. So why not use it?
Think about the garbage man. He comes every week to take out your trash. But to make it happen, you have to put your trash outside. He is not going to come inside your house to take your trash.
The same way, God doesn’t intrude in your life. You need to invite Him. The first step to do so is to recognize that you need Him, to humble yourself and recognize that you can’t manage all your worries. Yes, you are sad, anxious, or scared. It is ok. God will take care of it.
sweet spirit motivation 