You are not your emotions

You are you.  And your emotions are your emotions.  That might sound a bit obvious, but we are notoriously bad at confusing the two.  Emotions come and go.  And come back again.  And go again.  But we are the constant.  And we have, or experience, or feel our emotions.  But when we talk about them we often use phrases like “I am angry” or “I am sad” or “I am really happy” instead of I FEEL angry or FEEL sad or FEEL happy.  I know this might sound a bit petty, but how we talk about ourselves TO OURSELVES really can shape how we FEEL about ourselves and what we THINK of ourselves. 

Think of it this way.  Do you like anger or sadness? (why would you?).  So, if we say “I AM sad” we’re also saying that we don’t like ourselves.  I am sad.  I don’t like sad.  Therefore I don’t like me BECAUSE I’m sad.  Whereas if we say “I feel sad” we can still like ourselves while we are feeling sad about something.  See what I mean? 

So, if you feel happy to swap out “I am” for “I feel” when you’re talking about your emotions, what will you use “I am...” for?  Well, my advice is, save your “I am’s...” for things that are important to you, or that you feel proud about.

Today I’m going to invite you to notice how you use the words “I AM..” and “I FEEL...” and think about the words you choose to put after them.

Madonna said: I am my own experiment. I am my own work of art.

Me:  I am a woman, tall, smart.  I am a friend, An aunt, A sister. I am Outgoing. Friendly. Caring. Sensitive

What are you?