Emotions are a form of energy that impacts our feelings, perceptions, and actions. Our emotional energy can impact both our physical and mental wellness. For example, our body reacts to stress and anxiety. We can experience increased heart rate, gastrointestinal changes, sleep disturbances, hives, and rashes. Stress, anxiety, and other negative emotions can contribute to depression, anxiety, relationship disturbances, and workplace difficulties.
Life will be full of many stressors, negative events, and negative people; how you control your reaction and emotional energy to those events is important. There are people in life who thrive on negativity and conflict. The negative energy displayed by these people can impact you based on how you react. You cannot control the actions of others, but you can control your reaction and the amount of emotional energy you give to the other person. You can respond to the person honking the horn and yelling profanities with equal aggression or you can choose to ignore and not engage. Each option involves some use of emotional energy. Responding negatively and aggressively will likely result in using more emotional energy. It is up to you to decide if that energy release is beneficial for you. Will it cause more stress while in route to work? Stress in route to retrieve your children from school? Stress when coming home to your family? Is being upset by that’s person’s energy worth it?
Social media is an additional source that can impact your emotional energy. There is also added anonymity that many people use to express emotions and opinions that they would not express in face-to-face settings. This can lead to back-and-forth discussions, arguing, and name calling. Online trolls and others may enjoy this and will continue to engage as long as someone is giving them a reaction. Others post controversial comments for attention, their own amusement, or to gain publicity. We can all think of public figures and celebrities who make statements that will gather negative attention and reactions. Giving your emotional energy to social media, can drain you and contribute to unhealthy obsessions. You may find yourself constantly checking your phone, scrolling the internet for updates on the person making the comment, or being obsessed with finding evidence to negate the comments posted. There have been several studies linking social media to both physical and mental health concerns, such as depression, anxiety, low self-esteem, and poor sleep. Deciding how often to use social media, who to follow, who to like, who to block, and who to friend can help you control your use of emotional energy.
Wishing you health and happiness
My Mind, My Body, My Journey™ 