Hi Cara,
I'm trying to take responsibility for myself by admitting that I'm responding in a way that isn't constructive. Davit's coping mechanism is to focus on something else. To focus on the emotion, is to make it snowball and aggrandize.
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I guess I'm like a dog off their leash, if all I do it let myself get agitated over things. I am grown up, I think.
But sometimes people know what bothers me, and they'll "press buttons". Part of the growing up I want to complete, is to know as many of those buttons as possible, and curb my inappropriate reactions.
I also avoid situations which wouldn't help me, and get me in the "wrong" mood. I grew up in a religious tradition which states we "...should avoid temptations of sin...", but that goes for awkward stuff too.
I was reading about meditation, and it seems that the stillness we can get from that practise can reduce the emotional "range". I need to practise the progressive relaxation more often.
Some actually want emotional turmoil, so they watch horror films, or go to an amusement park roller coaster. I doubt that a refugee from a 3rd world country which is war-torn, seeks those films or rides.
Life would be boring without changes in our emotions though, wouldn't it?
