Emotions are said to be detrimental to our health.

They give us anxiety, pain, and suffering. It is time we change how we think about our emotions and start to embrace them.

In dealing with any emotion, if we push it down and don’t allow ourselves to feel it or embrace it, we repress it, and it will come back at another time and hit us like whiplash.

When your anxiety rises, ask yourself: what is this anxiety attached to? What made it come up? Can I do something about it? If yes, sit with it and process it; if no, then sit with it and process it.

Sit with your anxiety and let it wash over you. Make friends with it—only then will it lose its grip on you.

Here are 10 quotes about emotions for you to look at when they become too much:

1. “Sometimes your mind says ‘no,’ but your heart says ‘go.’” ~ Yvonne Urlanda

When your emotions are telling you not to do something, but deep down in your heart you are drawn to doing it, then do it. Our mind races, our emotions bounce, but our heart holds true to all we hold near and dear. My mind said “no” to many things, but I always followed my heart. I follow the emotions I know to be true and honest.

2. “Feelings are not supposed to be logical. Dangerous is the man who has rationalized his emotions.” ~ David Borenstein

Do not diminish your emotions. They are an important part of your life. They are there to allow you to see your life more deeply. When we process our emotions and understand them, we embrace them, feel them, allow them to wash over us, and feel connected to them. If we try to rationalize them, we take away their power. They are illogical and we need to process them to better understand how we are feeling.

3. “You can close your eyes to the things you do not want to see, but you cannot close your heart to the things you do not want to feel.” ~ Johnny Depp

Yes, our eyes see things, and we can close them to not see abuse or hurt. We can pretend climate change is not a thing. We can say we are not abusing our planet or cutting down rainforests, but our feelings about those things pulse through our bodies, and we can’t ignore them. Feelings are there to allow us to connect to others, our planet, animals, and many other things, but we can’t unsee the hurt in this world if we close our eyes.

4. “We destroy ourselves when we stop feeling. If you bury your feelings within you, you become a graveyard.” ~ Bernie S. Siegel

When we try to bury an unwanted emotion, it stops us from feeling. It allows us to protect ourselves for a short time, but each time we bury it, we become less emotional, less caring. We become closed off to the pain and to the emotions that allow us to feel empathy for others. Our heart becomes harder and harder until we become alone and feel nothing for anyone.

5. “Is it really possible to tell someone else what one feels?” ~ Leo Tolstoy

We want to help others not feel pain and hurt. As their friends, we tell them it will be okay, but honestly, we do not know. If we want to be supportive, we should let our friends feel what they feel. We say things like, “Oh, it is not that bad; you are making too much out of this.” We tell people how to feel about a death in the family, about a divorce, about a bad day, but we all have our own feelings, and we need to process them without others diminishing them or telling us that what we are feeling is wrong.

6. “Feelings come and go like clouds in a windy sky. Conscious breathing is my anchor.” ~ Thích Nhất Hạnh

As humans, we go through millions of emotions a day. Breathing them in and letting them go helps us process them. Some people need time to process them while others move through them quickly. Like Thich Nhat Hahn says, “Emotions are like clouds in a windy sky,” so if you wait one moment, another emotion will appear. Breathe through your emotions, connect with them, let them come, process them, and release them.

7. “We try so hard to hide everything we’re really feeling from those who probably need to know our true feelings the most. People try to bottle up their emotions as if it is somehow wrong to have natural reactions to life.” ~ Colleen Hoover

When we are in pain, hurting in some way, or dealing with a major life event, we should be able to talk to our friends, our spouses, and our family, but we seem to cover our feelings as if we are ashamed of them. We do not admit we are suffering from depression. We feel weak, hide it deep down, let it fester, and get worse. We could always talk to our loved ones, let those feelings sit with us, and process them with a supportive person around us. It is natural to have feelings, so when we suppress them, we go against our natural reaction and act as if something is wrong with being human.

8. “Smiles and tears are so alike with me, they are neither of them confined to any particular feelings: I often cry when I am happy and smile when I am sad.” ~ Anne Brontë

Feelings are complex. We cry when we are happy, sad, confused, frustrated, or lonely. We smile when we are in pain. We act as if everything is wonderful when we are breaking inside. We need to flip the switch. Try being open with others about how you are feeling. When you are at home, share your feelings about the isolation and confinement that might be affecting you. When we say how we feel, it allows others to better understand what we are going through. We can connect and not feel so lonely anymore. We realize we are not alone in our feelings; the connection with others can begin.

9. “A feeling is no longer the same when it comes the second time. It dies through the awareness of its return. We become tired and weary of our feelings when they come too often and last too long.” ~ Pascal Mercier

Sometimes, dealing with the same emotions is draining. We slip into complacence with dealing with them. We let them fester and begin to ignore them, but sometimes, we sit with them and they burrow in—like grief of a loved one. It washes over us repeatedly, and we are tired of sitting with it. We may need someone to help us work our way out of these emotions. If they are playing on repeat and hindering us from living our best lives, then seek professional help.

10. “In order to move on, you must understand why you felt what you did and why you no longer need to feel it.” ~ Mitch Albom

Show yourself compassion, give yourself over to understanding, sit with your emotions, and feel them until they no longer serve you; then let them go. Do we need to ask ourselves why we feel the way we do? Then figure out where this emotion is coming from. Say yes to making friends with your emotions, sitting with them, and having the tough conversations. Show yourself the grace you would give to another and remember to be kind to yourself.

According to the internet, the definition of an emotion is this, “A natural instinctive state of mind deriving from one’s circumstances, mood, or relationships with others.”

If it is a natural instinctive state of mind, then why so many of us are ignoring our emotions and shoving them down? Society judges us as weak, unworthy, and untrusting when we say we are dealing with something. We feel as if we need to hide our emotions and conform to the norms of what is allowed according to society.

But I suggest sitting with those emotions and making friends with them. Ask them why they are there, what they can teach you, then set them free. They may return, but you will be ready because they will be like a friend returning—not an enemy.

~