A Means of Stopping Overwhelming Emotions

25 Sep 2008 by Juliet du Preez

We all have triggers to explosive emotions - well, at least, I think we all do ;)

There will be some things that, as soon as they occur, cause you to react in a manner which does not serve you.

Once unproductive feelings and thoughts are set in motion, they tend to grow and become increasingly disruptive, if not addressed. At some point one can even lose sight of what the trigger was in the first place. Your outlook can become less and less positive; sometimes without your really even noticing it. And, of course, negativity attracts negativity, so the chances of something else unpleasant occurring increases.

If you have a couple of these thought waves going at any one time, at best it is extremely exhausting, at worst it can affect your ability to function.

I've battled - and still do battle - with being overwhelmed by emotions. I have learned to identify the origin, but often I only begin to do something about it when the feelings have got some momentum and then it requires more work to reign them in.

I realized that I was getting excessively wound up and it was affecting my life unnecessarily. I needed to find some sort of means of "nipping it in the bud" so-to-speak.

For me, it often doesn't help to try to be logical and rational, to go through the whole situation and decide on the likeliness of x happening or the actual need for a negative response on my side. Something such as hard exercising or popping balloons (yes, I have tried this one) isn't beneficial either. By the time I start working on it, it is generally too late for meditation or any form of "relaxation therapy".

For me I've found (and fairly recently at that) something that does have an impact. That is using a quote, phrase or a sentence as soon as that trigger event happens and I start to feel the emotional response rise. I call them "punch phrases" because they have the effect of taking the wind out of my feelings. It stops the wave right there before it has a chance to take on a life of its own.

Just to share one of my punch phrases, here is what I say to myself as soon as I feel stress around getting something done or handling a situation, and these are the words of Plato: "Nothing in the affairs of men is worthy of great anxiety."

I stumble across my punch phrases in my readings or conversations - just in daily life. They strike a definite cord with you when you come across them, so be aware, listen and adopt them if you want to give it a go.

I'd love to know some of your punch phrases and your experiences.