To better connect with our emotions, we must be careful about labelling them accurately.
Brené Brown highlights this in Episode 2 of her series “Atlas of the Heart” (which Bec and I are really enjoying).
In the episode, Brené describes that “the reason it matters to use the right language for the right experience is you don’t have one emotion shifting to become another because you misnamed it”.
She illustrates this by sharing her experience with stress and overwhelm.
“When things are hard for me I immediately say ‘I’m overwhelmed’ and then within 5 minutes I’m barely functioning. As opposed to saying ‘my stress is really high right now’, because it doesn’t sound ‘good enough’ for me”.
The better our language with emotions, the better choices we can make and the better we can ask others for help.
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