Sometimes we lose control of our emotions. It doesn’t mean we always break down and cry, it may be that we become impulsive and careless regarding our emotional responses to difficult situations. If you handle your emotions intelligently by learning how to master them, it will save you from constant stress or regrets.
You don’t want to be a slave to your emotions! To help evaluate yourself to see if you are a slave to your emotions, here are some unhealthy signs to watch out for.
You Have an Impulsive Nature
If something you want catches your attention, do you act on it or buy it impulsively? If so, your emotions are controlling you. You may not be thinking of the consequences of your actions. Or do you need to be somewhere important, but something better comes up, so you make up an excuse and do what you want? Having an impulsive nature is not always a good thing if it brings negative results. You need to control your impulsiveness sometimes.
You Vent Your Emotions
Do you lash out at others and not take into consideration that you may hurt them? What’s important to you is to vent your emotions regarding how you are feeling at that moment. You don't care that you cannot take back any hurtful words that you have spoken. You only care about your concerns and your feelings.
What seems right in the moment may also make you feel guilty later. Do you wish your venting had never happened, and do you feel lousy because of your lashing-out behavior? If so, this shows that your emotions took control over you at the time, which is why you feel down now. You need to take control of your emotions, so they don’t control you.
Unlock Your Full Potential: Explore our Personal Development Checklists
You Have Unpredictable Mood Swings
Being in a foul mood sometimes is normal. We all feel grumpy or stressed on occasion. However, if your foul mood becomes habitually unpredictable, people around you will begin to feel extremely uncomfortable when in your presence. They will begin to avoid you because of your unstable emotions. It’s unpleasant to be around someone who is happy one minute and sad or angry the next.
If your mood is constantly changing, you probably don’t even notice that you are hurting yourself and the other people around you. You have become a slave to your emotions. If you are at work you can’t perform well if you are in a bad mood, and perhaps you are someone who takes time off for work all because you are not in the mood. Let’s hope that’s not the case!
How To Free Yourself From Emotional Slavery
Your emotions have the power to control your choices and reactions in all your life situations. Being emotionally intelligent will help you become a master of your emotions instead of a slave to them. You will be able to balance your logical and thinking mind against your irrational, emotional unthinking mind.
Be aware of where your weaknesses lie. If you know you are impulsive, be mindful of your triggers. If you know you get angry quickly and for no ‘real’ reason, watch yourself around others.
Always be prepared for any situation by having an effective strategy to subdue your unhealthy emotions. Think before you react! Focus on the positive side of every unpleasant situation and avoid or limit the negative people or things in your life that give your tender emotions distress.
Also, practice empathy by thinking about how other people may be made to feel by your negative behavior. Put yourself in their shoes so that you understand their behavior towards you.
In Summary
Being aware of the unhealthy signs that may suggest you are a slave to your emotions is a start to you overcoming them. Master your emotions by knowing how to interact and convey them constructively. It will be beneficial to all. Get yourself together and control your emotions so that you can be emotionally free and happy.
