Emotional Regulation
The process by which we evaluate how we feel when emotions arise, for the purpose of recalibrating how we respond to them. Preferably in a less aggressive and self-destructive way than we usually do during an especially busy or stressful day. I’m sure we’ve all experienced an occasion where we’ve snapped at somebody who didn’t deserve it. Or we may have responded to the slightest inconvenience with the same emotional valence as a life or death situation.
Seeing as being a highly-strung individual isn’t conducive towards creating old bones, why do some of us still automatically respond in such an exaggerated manner?
The decline of real world social interaction and overexposure to flashing screens has led to hyperactivity, distractibility, and a lack of self-awareness. The perfect recipe for hyperreactivity.
There are always exceptions to the rule, such as people who are genetically predisposed to run hot, but technically we all have the ability to improve our self-awareness and attentiveness to the extent that we can manage our emotional responses.
In order to do that, we must first learn what emotions are, why we experience them, and how to use emotional regulation exercises to become more pleasant conversationalists. With enough practice, we should be able to understand ourselves on a more comprehensive level and as a result, create new automated patterns that align with the type of people we would like to be.
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