My word of the year for 2023 is relationships. Each month I decided to break it down to focus on a different relationship. My hope being that in the month I would build and break habits to bring them or leave them for the rest of the year. That way I can eventually be the healthiest me in all my relationships.

In February the relationship I picked to work on was myself. Specifically, my emotional health. These are some of the things I implemented in the month in order to learn myself and create healthy habits that provided me with a better way to get in tune with my emotions, which in turn would allow me to express them better to others.

Daily Gratitude

Daily Gratitude allowed me to find the best moments in each day. No matter how bad the day was when I found a reason to be grateful for the day it improved my mood immensely. When my mood was improved it was easier for me to evaluate the emotions I felt in the day. It showed me that even if I wasn’t in a good place emotionally, I still had things to look forward to in this life.

By journaling the things, I was grateful for in the day and reading my gratitude book it showed me the importance of daily gratitude. Daily gratitude improves your mental, emotional, and physical health. Through reading and research, I even learned it can increase life expectancy because those who practiced daily gratitude tended to live healthier lives. Now if that doesn’t show the importance of daily gratitude, I don’t know what will!

Do something you love each day.

By doing something I loved each day it allowed me a little good every day. Even if the day was stressful or overwhelming, I found something I could do that I loved, sometimes it was only an activity that took a few minutes. If it was going to be a long night of driving I found a podcast, audio book or playlist I loved to listen to. I found ways to fit in a little something even when my schedule for the day seemed way to busy.

Doing something I loved each day reminded me to put myself first for a month, which was hard because I tend to always put myself last. When putting myself first it made it easier for me to sit in my feelings and think about my emotions and their triggers. It allowed me time to find myself and my hobbies again. One of my favorite activities is taking a bath, using a face mask, and listening to my calming playlist. This allowed me a safe environment to think about my feelings.

Allow yourself to feel all of your feelings.

I tend to push my feelings down, especially in stressful or busy situations in my life. It is important to allow yourself to feel all your feelings because if you push them down then they might come up at a worse time. However, allowing yourself to feel them does not mean acting upon all of them.

Many times, during the month I would journal out my strong feelings especially if I wanted to act upon them. I knew if I acted on all of the strong feelings, I had someone I cared about could end up hurt by my actions. So instead of acting on them I journaled. By journaling out all my feelings it gave me a space to be vulnerable which allowed me to figure out some of my emotional triggers and ways I could improve myself.

Create a calming playlist.

When I didn’t know what or how I felt I would turn on the playlist that I created. I would also play it when I was having strong emotions. This gave me something listen while trying to understand what I was feeling. A calming playlist gives you background noise while you try to sort out what and how you are feeling.

Practice weekly or daily meditation

By using the Abide app I was able to take time to meditate on different scripture that related to my feelings. The Abide app has so many calming meditations that end with journal prompt which allows you time to work through the emotions you are feeling. Abide gave me a place to turn to when my emotions were over taking me and I needed a way to sort through them with a Christian point of view. This allowed me to bring God into my big emotions and recenter myself and my faith.

Put your own needs first.

I had to put myself first if I truly wanted to better my emotional health. I am a person that tends to put my friends and family above me. I want them to know I care for them and want to help them with what they are going through. However, we cannot be good friends to those around us if we aren’t first taking care of ourselves. One reason our emotions can get too big for us is because we aren’t making time for them.

By putting my own needs first it allowed me time to understand my emotions better. If you are the caretaker friend you don’t always have to put yourself first but it’s important to do so at times. If you are struggling ask others for help instead of adding to your plate by helping everyone but you.

Remember you and your emotional, mental, and physical health is important. Take time to care for you! If you enjoyed this post you should check out how I improved my relationship with God in the month of January.