When you are young, you feel and live your emotions to the fullest. One day you are happy; the next, frustrated; then confused and sometimes all at the same time. Although feeling is totally normal, the difficult thing is not knowing what to do with that intense emotion.
That’s where something key comes in: emotional communication. It sounds complicated, but it is actually simple, although not always easy. It means saying what you feel without hurting or keeping everything to yourself.
This happens to many of us. We keep quiet until we can’t take it anymore or we explode, but then we regret it. Neither option helps much.
Learning to express what you feel can improve your relationships. Avoid misunderstandings and fights that escalate for no reason. Plus, it helps you feel calmer about yourself, because you don’t keep everything to yourself.
This is not learned overnight; It is gradual.
- Start with something basic: name what you feel. Being angry is not the same as being disappointed, nor is being sad than feeling alone. Understanding it is already a big step.
- Then comes the hardest part: saying it. It’s not about yelling or blaming. Sometimes something as simple as saying “hey, that bothered me” or “I felt bad about that” can make a difference.
Remember that communicating is also knowing how to listen. Not everything revolves around what you feel. You must understand others, even when they do not think the same as you; That’s also part of the process.
When there are conflicts, the way you speak can make everything worse or solve it. Choosing your words well can avoid major problems.
Remember the emotional traffic light trick; can help you.
🔴 High: If you are very emotionally intense, do not respond immediately.
🟡 Think: What are you really feeling? How can you say it better?
🟢 Take action: express yourself, but with respect.
In the end, no one is born knowing how to communicate what they feel, this is something that is learned and practiced, although sometimes we fail in the attempt. But it’s always worth it.
When you learn to say what you feel, you not only improve your relationships, you also begin to understand yourself better.
Communicating what you feel helps you:
- Think more clearly when something bothers you.
- Express yourself without exploiting or keeping everything to yourself.
- Take care of your relationships with others.
- Feel greater control of what happens to you.
Test: How is your emotional communication?
Adolescence Series
Adolescence is the series that Free press that provides practical and reflective tools that help young people strengthen their emotional intelligence from a close and understandable perspective.
Each topic includes a self-test designed so that young people can identify how developed they have that specific skill.
In total there are six topics and two will be published per week with these themes: self-knowledge, emotional regulation, emotional communication, self-esteem and self-love, interpersonal relationships and emotion management. In the print edition look for the plates on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, April 7-22.
With information from Violeta Velásquez. Source: MA Silvana Ferrari, educational coach, educational psychologist and university professor. Website: ProEducación Gt. https://638a650893374.site123.me/