“One of the most important things we need to understand about emotional pain is that it is life’s way of telling us that we are heading in the wrong direction, and we need to change course.”~ Amar
Emotional pain is way more difficult to deal with than physical pain since physical pain is not ambiguous. And even though it is more difficult to diagnose, as I have learned, we can deal with it and even free ourselves from it once and for all.
Below are 7 ways to free yourself from emotional pain, and come out happier, stronger, and at peace in every area of your life.
7 Ways to Free Yourself from Emotional Pain
1. Identify the negative emotion causing the pain.
It is easier said than done. Negative emotions are of multiple kinds like fear, guilt, hatred etc. Sometimes, it gets quite difficult to identify the specific emotion that is causing the pain.
However, if we can’t diagnose the problem, we can’t solve it. Therefore, it is important that ask ourselves tough questions about the source of the pain.
2. Learn how to deal with different negative emotions.
All negative emotions needs a different strategy to handle. For example, if you are afraid of something, it may be important for you to face what you fear and therefore, let go of the emotional pain. If you are suffering from guilt, you may need to apologise to someone who you may have pained inadvertently. Every negative emotion needs to be handled differently.
3. Remind yourself that you can do it.
Sometimes when we are in acute pain, it is hard for us to believe that we would be able to deal with it. However, most of us have seen a fair bit of life by the time we become conscious of our emotions, and how they affect us.
We have dealt with them in the past. We just need to remind ourselves that if we could do it in the past, we can do it now.
4. Emotions are feedback.
Emotions are the number one feedback mechanism of life. If you feel happy emotions like joy, power, love- that means that your life is headed in the right direction.
If you feel negative emotions like guilt, fear, frustration-that means that there are things about your life that you need to fix. It is quite simple to note that emotions are feedback, and there is no reason to panic when you experience emotional pain.
“Emotional pain cannot kill you, but running from it can. Allow. Embrace. Let yourself feel. Let yourself heal.”~ Vironika Tugaleva
5. It is okay to feel overwhelmed.
Negative emotions make us feel overwhelmed with pain. They make us feel weaker than we are. It is okay to feel overwhelmed when experiencing negative emotions. If you stress about your situation, it would make it even worse. Therefore, realize that it is okay to feel the way you are feeling, and it just means that there are certain things that you need to fix about your life.
6. Go offensive on the root of the pain.
There are things that cause us regular emotional pain. For example, relationships that don’t work or painful jobs. They cause us to feel frustrated, not loved or cared for, regretful among other negative emotions. Sometimes, some problems cannot be solved. They need to be eliminated from our lives.
You may need to make a difficult decision in case something is not working out, and root out the reason why you feel the emotional pain.
7. If you can’t handle the emotional pain, seek out a professional.
There are several mental health professionals whose job is to help people get rid of their pain through methods like counselling or even medication. When the pain increases to an extent that you cannot deal with it anymore, it may be a good idea to seek help.
There is nothing wrong with seeking out external help from someone who has experience in dealing with emotional pain.
After all, it is this emotional pain that causes such damage and takes away precious joy from our lives, that we need to understand where it comes from first of all. Once we understand that it is life’s way of telling us we need to fix a few things, it may be easier to deal with it, and eventually free ourselves from it.
Once you learn the ropes of dealing with emotional pain, you will finally experience pure joy, happiness, and bliss. And that’s all any of us really want out of life, isn’t it?