Because by expressing our feelings openly, we stay true to ourselves. We're not hiding anything or lying. We're being honest.
This means we can respect ourselves - we can feel good about being honest with ourselves and with other people.
Usually other people will appreciate our efforts to express how we feel. They'll respect our honesty and the trust that we've placed in them.
And in turn, they may be able to trust us and tell us honestly how they feel - about themselves, about us, about life, about particular situations - and so on.
This improves the quality of our relationships. We're being REAL with each other.
1 - Recognise and accept all of our feelings, and -
2 - Bring them out into the open, where they can heal.
Here's some questions for you -
Have you ever felt:
- A knotted sensation in your stomach (ANGER, RESENTMENT) - you want to SCREAM!
- A surge of tension through your body (RAGE) - you want to STRIKE OUT!
- A hot flush on your face and neck (HUMILIATION) - you want to RUN AWAY!
- A hollow feeling in your stomach (GRIEF, LOSS, LONLINESS) - you want to DIE!
What did you do? . . . Nothing?
Then those feelings are still with you. Sitting inside. They can be harmful.
These are the sort of uncomfortable sensations and feelings that a person might try to avoid by abusing drugs or alcohol. Maybe you've thought of doing that.
There's some examples of how we can deal with our feelings on the next page . . .
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