Our feelings are not there to be cast out or conquered. They’re there to be engaged and expressed with imagination and intelligence.”Last week in DBT we were asked to go through a worksheet full of emotion myths and to write down ways of challenging them. The worksheet also had some answers in case one got stuck. I did not do all of the myths but just the ones that really resonated with me. I thought I would share my own challenges and the included challenges that really moved me.
― T.K. Coleman, Freedom Without Permission: How to Live Free in a World That Isn't
Myth: Letting others know that I am feeling bad is a weakness.
Challenge: Being emotional means that I am human.
Myth: All painful emotions are a result of a bad attitude.
Challenge: I used to think drama is cool, now I know that it is exhausting.
Myth: It is inauthentic to try to change my emotions.
Challenge: I do not need to suffer.
Provided Challenge: Change is itself authentic; it is part of life.
Myth: Emotional truth is what counts, not factual truth.
Challenge: Emotional truth and factual truth both count.
Myth: People should do whatever they feel like doing.
Challenge: Balance is key.
Provided Challenge: Doing what I feel like doing can be ineffective.
Myth: Acting on your emotions is the mark of a truly free individual.
Challenge: Being able to regulate my own emotions is the mark of a truly free individual. I will no longer be a slave to intense emotions.
Provided Challenge: The truly free person can regulate emotions.
My Response To The Provided Challenge: The truly free person honors boundaries.
Myth: My emotions are who I am.
Challenge: My emotions are a part of who I am but not my totality.
Myth: My emotions are why people love me.
Challenge: Every emotion is produced by an interpretation to an event. Recognizing this will mean that I will have simultaneously more freedom and more control - I will be able to more thoroughly have the life I want.
Myth: Emotions should always be trusted.
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