This topic is not about mental illness and yet it is about the the way we see life and the struggles that ensue that cause us to doubt ourselves and/or the situation. It is about the energy it takes to figure out how to handle those thoughts that can be fleeting or if nurtured and pandered to will diminish us and defeat us.
Are you aware of how your emotions and feelings can be the early warning sign that our thinking is out of tune with reality? Emotional Intelligence shows us how to recognize our emotions in our physical responses. We experience our emotions when our heart races, or we clench our fists, or we squirm, or we turn red, or our shoulders rise, or we get weak in the knees, or we clench our teeth. Try naming the particular physical symptoms you are familiar with when you are angry, or sad, or excited, or happy, or frustrated, or impatient, or anxious... just to name a few. When you experience these emotions consider them to be like the amber traffic lights that warns us to be careful and be prepared to stop. Emotions can cause us to be unreasonable when they make us feel overwhelmed and they then cloud the facts within the emotional drama. They can change how we see something or someone. They can make us deaf to what is really being said. They can make us feel that we are totally right and everyone better get on board!
Next week as we look at Tips and Tools we will look at some ideas that will enable you to corral those emotions and make them collaborate with the facts to create energy for positive action.
Be sure and check out What-if Leadership Journal by Ruth Esau on Amazon.
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