Emotional Rollercoaster

By Linda Wright

Human beings are complex creatures. We are emotional, social, spiritual, intellectual and physical beings. We are affected by our environment, events, and what people may or may not say to us. As young ladies we are often plagued with our emotions. We just cannot be sure if we can trust them and what they are telling us to do. Our emotions are unreliable at times. We feel happy, sad, angry, excited, overwhelmed and worried in the space of a few minutes.

Strong feelings such as love, anger, fear, joy and sorrow are emotions. Our emotions affect our behavior in many ways in fact, it is often the leading influential factor that determines how we respond to others. A classic example could probably be someone wearing the exact same dress, to your prom. Some of you are probably thinking that, "hey that would make any one upset or feel strong feeling of resentment towards 'that girl'". In fact you may even feel that this situation warrants you not speaking to that girl or making snide comments about the way she looks in "your" dress, such as "oh she's much too fat for that dress," or "don't you think it looks better on me?

Your strong feelings may stem from the fact that as a child you may have worn hand-me-downs and not ever owned anything that was uniquely and originally yours. In fact, just being reminded that someone else has on the exact same thing as you may give you reason to behave in an inappropriate manner.

As young ladies we need to learn how to express our emotions appropriately. There will be times in your life when people may say or do things to you that may make you upset and angry. Someone may just get on your last nerve and in retaliation you may swear and let loose all your pent up frustration. However, uttermost care most be taken when you express yourself. Care should be taken in what we say to others, how we say it and when and where we say it.

Ladies, you should not allow your fears, anger, frustration, rage or any other emotion to get the best of you. Express yourself appropriately. Tell other when they hurt or upset you. If you do so they are less likely to repeat the same thing. Also you are less likely to give into temptation and give them a piece of your mind.

March/May '02