Hiding Your Emotions – A Heavy Burden

Hiding your emotions is probably something you do often. This is something we all do very often. You calm the pain and keep the anxiety, fear and anger inside you. But little by little, hiding your emotions ceases to be functional. Instead, it causes mental blockages to keep you from good health, spontaneity and personal growth.

For centuries, society has educated us to believe that the most important thing in our world is reason. Descartes said, ” cogito ergo sum ” (I think, therefore I am), and it sets the stage for how we think about emotions today. Emotions and everything we associate with them take us further away from all that is civilized.

Maybe that’s why we teach children that crying is immature and that it is always better to hide your sadness. We teach them that people who get angry and react to what they do not like or think are unfair are rude.

“Laugh quietly,” we tell them implicitly, because loud laughter means you’re crazy. We explain that emotions, and especially showing them, are a weakness. No one tells children that emotions have a lot of potential, and that it is important to understand them in order to get the most out of them.

We feel because we exist. That is the simple truth. Emotions and emotions give us life while suppressing them takes life away, little by little. Hiding your emotions is harmful.

Emotions and their purpose

We can say right now that we are all entering this world with an incredible potential for happiness. However, there are some nuances to this concept that are important to pick apart. Your genes and the environment predispose you to certain things.

So, much of the emotional distress you carry around without knowing why comes from the mental and emotional structure that developed very early in your life.

Teachers and parents teach you rules and knowledge. What you may not realize, however, is that they also teach you about emotions. It is precisely this last factor that largely determines the quality of life and human potential.

Unhealthy emotional management often causes you to distort the truth. Sometimes, for example, you think that an emotion is like an option on a menu. You can reject and choose ( ie today I am disappointed, but I choose to show happiness. )

However, the internal dynamics do not work that way. It’s because you can not expose emotions. They neither die nor disappear. However, emotions can be transformed. They turn into psychosomatic disorders and distress.

Hiding your emotions is not healthy

Hiding your emotions comes at a high price. You may think that hiding your emotions will make things better. After all, you do not want attention, and while you do not change anything, you can still be productive. But how long will you be able to use that mask?

• Think of emotions as energy, as internal impulses that need expression and movement. If you hide your emotions, that energy is channeled inward. The result? Muscle tension, gastrointestinal problems, headaches, etc.
• Remember that the stronger the oppression, the stronger the emotional expression will be in the end. Ultimately, all repressed emotions look for a redemption, a way out. Sometimes it comes out the worst way. We see this a lot when we suppress anger or disappointment. In the end, you end up dumping all that tension on the wrong person or reacting disproportionately (with violence ).

How can I control my emotions?

You now know that the solution is not to suppress, hide or “pretend” that your emotions are not there. The emotional energy is there and will be. The key then is to let it flow. To understand how to better manage your emotions, think of these simple metaphors.

• The well. If you decide to put your emotions in a well, you will get sick. Water that is stagnant for a long time becomes bad, it smells bad, it rots. So avoid the well.
• Tsunami. If you choose this strategy, you will end up harming others. Sometimes emotions are like a hurricane or a tsunami. They fall on others with so much anger and contempt that everyone ends up losing.

• The water wheel. The mill or water wheel allows water to move continuously. It flows smoothly through, in harmony. The movement is gentle and nothing is held back. The water is fresh, never stagnant. This is the best option.

It is about appropriately channeling each of your emotions. Move with them. Say what bothers you when it bothers you. Reacts when the moment demands a reaction. Be determined and agile under the pressure of everyday life. Turn your emotions into a harmonious engine instead of a trap, simply.