Emotional Reactions

Sometimes our emotions can get the best of us. It's almost like some outside force takes over.

For myself, this is usually something that happens with people who are closest to me. A certain look, tone or word will trigger a reaction that is not the way I would have chosen to react if I was in control.

After an event like this, I'm never happy with myself. If I notice what happened quick enough, I will do what I can to get in front of it right away. Acknowledge what I did, apologize to the person I did it to and forgive myself.

Unfortunately that's a retroactive approach. The damage has been done and sometimes that damage can be too much to fix or will take time to fix.

I've noticed I have less control when the following things creep into my life:

• Not enough sleep.
• Eating shitty food.
• Not enough active movement.
• Haven't been meditating.
• Haven't been writing.
• Not enough family time.
• Stress levels are up due to "work" stuff.

What I noticed is that I have control over all of these things. I can make sure I get enough sleep, eat healthy, get exercise, meditate, write and have time for family. When I take care of these things than the stress that may be caused by work usually disappears or becomes less of a concern.

By taking action on the right things, I can avoid reactions in the wrong way.

The most important part of all of this is forgiving myself if I do respond in a way that is less than desirable. Even when I do all of this stuff, I may still slip. But that's okay! I'm only human and this is part of the human experience.