For a very long time I was a runner. When I was a kid I wasn’t. When I was a kid I felt things loudly making sure everyone else knew exactly what I was going through. Feelings got more complicated when I got older though, and proper ways to express those feelings got confusing. Avoiding them all together seemed like an easy solution.
That strategy wasn’t sustainable though. I thought I could outrun my feelings, but them jokers run fast - way faster than me. They always caught up with me, tackling me to the ground forcing me to look at them, feel them, deal with them. I think that’s what made me stop being a runner. I got tired of being tackled by a mass of undealt with emotions.
Deciding to be someone who sits with and deals with my stuff as it arises forced me to learn new ways of dealing. Therapy, long walks, dancing, and writing all became ways of dealing. Some of those items were things I always did, but they became therapeutic when I added the intentionality behind them.
What are some ways you deal with your feelings?