3 Ways To Overcome The Struggle Within

Is it good to be controlled by your emotions, giving them the power to determine how you deal with challenges, people, or time? Knowing the struggle within, is it easy to not allow yourself to be consumed by your emotions? Falling into the same trap of emotions repeatedly makes us victims of our thoughts. Once you let your thoughts and emotions get the best of you, the consequences they bring, come with guilt, regrets, and pain, which stay with you, for the rest of your life.

The Struggle Within

Did you know, your emotions could change how you see people’s behavior or interpret the world around you? This perception affects your reactions and the quality of your life and relationships.

Your emotions when regulated can help you receive positive outcomes from a storm in life, and make you resilient. On the other hand, when unregulated, they may give you stress, causing you to react quickly and get impulsive. The outcome of such behavior isn’t pleasant and results in negative thinking patterns that worsen the struggle within, without letting you grow through life and experiences, damaging your relationships and ruining your peace.

Here’s my article on how not to get weighed down by your emotions, but use life experiences to grow and evolve into a better version of yourself: Grow through your experiences.

Tips to overcome the struggle within

There could be many reasons that trigger emotional distress such as financial instability, job dissatisfaction, negative experiences, conflicts at home, or uncertain circumstances. Such times require faith, patience, and a positive attitude to push yourself forward and not get into the trap of negative emotions such as anger, contempt, hatred, anguish, jealousy, fear, guilt, and frustration.

Faith might not take your struggles away, but it takes your frustration and fear away, replacing them with hope and courage to overcome. It is a steady compass that helps you navigate any situation with purpose, meaning, love, and integrity. To read more on how faith could transform one’s life, read this article: How Faith Transforms Your Life in 7 Ways

Practice Meditation

If you intend to reduce the impact of intense negative emotions, practicing meditation is a great way. When you encounter moments of emotional distress, it may seem like it will never pass.

Healthy mindfulness habits like meditation could help you become aware of yourself, and calm down without getting impulsive. This enables you to focus better and look at the bigger picture helping you navigate difficult moments with patience and positivity without allowing the struggle within to take control of your actions and behavior.

If you want to start this healthy habit, here’s a guide that could be helpful: A 10-minute meditation

Maintain a routine

When you lack a proper routine you are less engaged in activities or tasks that keep your mind focused on something important, in such moments, you can exacerbate negative emotions, due to spending more time focusing on what has triggered you, resulting in impulsive behavior.

Having a routine throughout your day keeps you from ruminating over something that intensifies emotional struggles within. List the basic tasks you must complete in a day and focus on accomplishing them. Engage yourself in your routine to stay on track with your goals.

When taking breaks, do not indulge in anything negative. Instead use your break to refresh and recharge, such as a few minutes of prayer time, munching on a healthy snack, spending time with pets, or doing what motivates you.

Avoid procrastinating tasks, by putting high-priority tasks on your to-do list. Also include activities for your well-being such as taking a walk, cooking your favorite meal, or pursuing a hobby.

Know when and how to express yourself

Although you intend to release your tension and not carry it around, uncontrollable eruptions of bottled-up emotions won’t do any good to you and will put off others. It is not a good idea to allow your feelings to explode uncontrollably and damage relationships beyond repair. Bottling up your emotions, on the other hand, affects your well-being and your relationships negatively, without easing the struggle within.

Using healthy and constructive ways to express feelings and being mindful of your surroundings and situation, is imperative to avoid causing any damage as you express your feelings and let people know the struggle within.

As your feelings influence your thoughts, your thinking pattern could become negative when your feelings are bitter. Saying your negative thoughts out loud or letting your thoughts speak through your actions is a path to destruction and not healing. This intensifies the struggle within and gives you much pain.

Expressing your feelings properly when you’ve calmed down and not pouring forth the negative thoughts provoked by your intense emotions could encourage others to listen and empathize. This builds trust, empathy, and compassion in relationships, nurturing your bonds and allowing you to let others know how you feel and the struggle within, without causing any damage.

“The secret of change is to focus all your energy not on fighting the old, but on building the new,” said Socrates.

Focus on what is essential for you to become a better version of yourself, allowing the struggle within to settle or ease, without getting yourself and others into an emotional storm of bitterness and discomfort.

Do you encourage people to open up about their feelings and be a good listener or expect them to be bottled up? Do share in the comments.