Ugh …

Sometimes it is all we need to say!

I love to create.  I can remember as a teen sitting at the dining room table with our sewing maching, making my latest creation.  Things would be going along beautifully … and then I would hit a snag.  That’s when my Mom would hear the “uggghhhh!!” across the house.  She never responded, or came to see what was wrong.  She knew.  It really said it all, and my Mom knew exactly what was happening when she heard it.

That one word (is it a word?) puts all our emotions into one short expression.

Emotions are like that, aren’t they?  They seem to get all built up, and then need to be released.

But did you realize just how much emotions are behind what we think, and therefore act out on?

Our thoughts begin with our emotions, and lead to our decisions and behaviours.

Read that last sentence again.  Let it sink in.

Our thoughts determine the decisions we make, and the behaviours we choose.

And our thoughts come from our emotions.

The most powerful story in the world is the story you tell yourself because it determines your thinking, your thinking determines your performance, and your performance determines your results ~ Tom Ziglar

That means we had better make sure our emotions are where we want them.  

It also tells us that if we want different results or outcomes, then we need to go back and reassess our emotions and thoughts.

To change our thoughts, let’s put a pause on our emotions.

Pause and reflect, reassess, and make sure they are helping us be who we want to be.

That’s where the pause comes in.

To pause and take a look at our emotions, and thoughts, and be able to be aware of whether they need to be changed or not.

I know that I am most expressive, emotional, and frustrated when I am doing too many things and feel a lack of time to do it all.  Funny thing is, that is exactly when I need to pause and take the time to assess where my emotions are at.

This week I had an emotional time.  I hadn’t received a response I was desiring and it made me emotional.

Until I stopped.

I asked myself if that person had done the best they could do in that moment. 

I assessed where my emotions came from and shifted them.  

I was looking for something they didn’t even know I was looking for.  

Unmet expectations.  

They were doing their best at that time. 

It changed my emotions, which changed my thoughts, and then my behaviours.

Honestly, most of the time a few minutes of pausing can change hours of frustration and sadness.  

When you feel those emotions bubbling up, or you are ready to express them with an “uugggghhhh!”, pause, stop, and take a minute to reflect on where those emotions come from.  Are they accurate? Are you doing your best, or is someone else doing their best in that moment?

Are your emotions giving you the thoughts and outcomes that will help you be your best you?

Are the emotions from unmet expectations?

Maybe they’re from a lack of time to get everything done you had wanted to do?

Is someone (maybe even someone really tiny – young Moms know …) interrupting your plans?

Or maybe you are owning someone else’s actions as if they were for you personally, when they had nothing to do with you at all?

Pause. Reflect. Shift.

Make sure your emotions are leading you into decisions and behaviours that reflect your best you.