#1 LEARN, DISCOVER OR SATISFY THE CURIOSITY FOR NORMAL DEVELOPMENT AND HEALTH

4 Reasons Why Curiosity is Important and How to Develop It

The important thing is not to stop questioning… Never lose a holy curiosity. Albert Einstein

Curiosity is an important trait of a genius. I don’t think you can find an intellectual giant who is not a curious person. Thomas Edison, Leonardo da Vinci, Albert Einstein, Richard Feynman, they are all curious characters. Richard Feynman was especially known for his adventures which came from his curiosity.

But why is curiosity so important? Here are four reasons:

1. It makes your mind active instead of passiveCurious people always ask questions and search for answers in their minds. Their minds are always active. Since the mind is like a muscle which becomes stronger through continual exercise, the mental exercise caused by curiosity makes your mind stronger and stronger.
2. It makes your mind observant of new ideas
   When you are curious about something, your mind expects and anticipates new ideas related to it. When the ideas come they will soon be recognized. Without curiosity, the ideas may pass right in front of you and yet you miss them because your mind is not prepared to recognize them. Just think, how many great ideas may have lost due to lack of curiosity?
3. It opens up new worlds and possibilitiesBy being curious you will be able to see new worlds and possibilities which are normally not visible. They are hidden behind the surface of normal life, and it takes a curious mind to look beneath the surface and discover these new worlds and possibilities.
4. It brings excitement into your life
   The life of curious people is far from boring. It’s neither dull nor routine. There are always new things that attract their attention, there are always new ‘toys’ to play with. Instead of being bored, curious people have an adventurous life.

Now, knowing the importance of curiosity, here are some tips to develop it:

1. Keep an open mind

This is essential if you are to have a curious mind. Be open to learn, unlearn, and relearn. Some things you know and believe might be wrong, and you should be prepared to accept this possibility and change your mind.

2. Don’t take things as granted

If you just accept the world as it is without trying to dig deeper, you will certainly lose the ‘holy curiosity’. Never take things as granted. Try to dig deeper beneath the surface of what is around you.

3. Ask questions relentlessly

A sure way to dig deeper beneath the surface is asking questions: What is that? Why is it made that way? When was it made? Who invented it? Wheredoes it come from? How does it work? What, why, when, who, where, andhow are the best friends of curious people.

4. Don’t label something as boring

Whenever you label something as boring, you close one more door of possibilities. Curious people are unlikely to call something as boring. Instead, they always see it as a door to an exciting new world. Even if they don’t yet have time to explore it, they will leave the door open to be visited another time.

5. See learning as something fun

If you see learning as a burden, there’s no way you will want to dig deeper into anything. That will just make the burden heavier. But if you think of learning as something fun, you will naturally want to dig deeper. So look at life through the glasses of fun and excitement and enjoy the learning process..

6. Read diverse kinds of reading

Don’t spend too much time on just one world; take a look at another worlds. It will introduce you to the possibilities and excitement of the other worlds which may spark your interest to explore them further. One easy way to do this is through reading diverse kinds of reading. Try to pick a book or magazine on a new subject and let it feed your mind with the excitement of a new world.

Curiosity: It Helps Us Learn, But Why?

The Limbic Reward System lights up when curiosity is piqued.

LA Johnson/NPR

How does a sunset work? We love to look at one, but Jolanda Blackwell wanted her eighth-graders to really think about it, to wonder and question.

So Blackwell, who teaches science at Oliver Wendell Holmes Junior High in Davis, Calif., had her students watch a video of a sunset on YouTube as part of a physics lesson on motion.

"I asked them: 'So what's moving? And why?' " Blackwell says. The students had a lot of ideas. Some thought the sun was moving; others, of course, knew that a sunset is the result of the Earth spinning around on its axis.

Once she got the discussion going, the questions came rapid-fire. "My biggest challenge usually is trying to keep them patient," she says. "They just have so many burning questions."

Students asking questions and then exploring the answers. That's something any good teacher lives for. And at the heart of it all is curiosity.

Blackwell, like many others teachers, understands that when kids are curious, they're much more likely to stay engaged.

But why? What, exactly, is curiosity and how does it work? A study published in the October issue of the journal Neuron suggests that the brain's chemistry changes when we become curious, helping us better learn and retain information.

Our Brains On Curiosity

"In any given day, we encounter a barrage of new information," says Charan Ranganath, a psychologist at the University of California, Davis and one of the researchers behind the study. "But even people with really good memory will remember only a small fraction of what happened two days ago."

Ranganath was curious to know why we retain some information and forget other things.

So he and his colleagues rounded up 19 volunteers and asked them to review more than 100 trivia questions. Questions such as, "What does the term 'dinosaur' actually mean?" and "What Beatles single lasted longest on the charts, at 19 weeks?"

Participants rated each question in terms of how curious they were about the answer.

Next, everyone reviewed the questions — and their answers — while the researchers monitored their brain activity using an MRI machine. When the participants' curiosity was piqued, the parts of their brains that regulate pleasure and reward lit up. Curious minds also showed increased activity in the hippocampus, which is involved in the creation of memories.

"There's this basic circuit in the brain that energizes people to go out and get things that are intrinsically rewarding," Ranganath explains. This circuit lights up when we get money, or candy. It also lights up when we're curious.

When the circuit is activated, our brains release a chemical called dopamine, which gives us a high. "The dopamine also seems to play a role in enhancing the connections between cells that are involved in learning."

Indeed, when the researchers later tested participants on what they learned, those who were more curious were more likely to remember the right answers

Curiosity Helps Us Learn Boring Stuff, Too

There was one more twist in Ranganath's study: Throughout the experiment, the researchers flashed photos of random faces, without giving the participants any explanation as to why.

Those whose curiosity was already piqued were also the best at remembering these faces.

The researchers were surprised to learn that curious brains are better at learning not only about the subject at hand but also other stuff — even incidental, boring information.

"Say you're watching the Breaking Bad finale," Ranganath explains. If you're a huge fan of the show, you're certainly really curious to know what happens to its main character, Walter White.

"You'll undoubtedly remember what happens in the finale," he says, but you might also remember what you ate before watching the episode, and what you did right after.

This is a phenomenon teachers can use to their advantage in the classroom, says Evie Malaia, an assistant professor at the Southwest Center for Mind, Brain and Education at the University of Texas, Arlington.

"Say a kid wants to be an astronaut," she says. "Well, how do you link that goal with learning multiplication tables?" A teacher may choose to ask her class an interesting word problem that involves space exploration, Malaia says.

At the end of the class, students may remember the answer to the word problem, but they'll also remember how they found the answer through multiplication.

"This way kids basically get into the driver's seat," Malaia says. "They feel especially good if they discover something, if they construct knowledge themselves."

Teachers have been using this technique instinctively for years, she adds, and now the science is backing that up. "Curiosity really is one of the very intense and very basic impulses in humans. We should base education on this behavior.

#2 PARTICIPATE IN VARIOUS WAYS OF RECREATION

In the 1950s and 1960s, activities such as horseback trail riding, skiing, snowmobiling and taking a day hike were among some of the popular choices among outdoor enthusiasts. While these are still enjoyed, people have been leaning toward less vigorous physical activities since that time, according to H. Ken Cordell of the U.S. Forest Service. Yet incorporating physical activity into your leisure and recreation activities is an ideal way to fit more exercise into your schedule -- as well as address your mental wellness.

Physical Benefits of Recreation

Taking part in recreational activities, particularly outdoors, can improve your physical wellness. In fact, people who frequently take advantage of park activities have fewer doctor visits, lower body mass indexes and lower systolic blood pressures than those who don't, according to Dr. Laura L. Payne of the University of Illinois. A 2005 California State Parks report also highlights that outdoor recreation provides an excellent opportunity to increase exercise. It cites a 2001 study revealing that the availability of recreational facilities in a location impacts the amount of physical activity in which residents participate.

Leisure Lowers Stress and Depression

Mental wellness is an important part of your overall health and can impact your physical well-being. Participating in leisure and recreation activities can help you better manage stress and reduce depression. Leisure provides you the chance to find balance in your life; it also puts you in control of how you're spending your time, which is an important consideration because you may feel overwhelmed by obligations. Taking part in leisure activities as a family is also beneficial for your kids because you're modeling healthy ways to handle stress and emotions. Participating in leisure activities regularly reduces depression; in fact, just thinking about past outdoor recreation experiences can improve mood, according to the 2005 California State Parks report.

Improve Your Quality of Life

Finding balance is also a reason why leisure and recreation can enhance your quality of life. Physical recreation, in particular, is associated with improved self-esteem. In addition, you're more likely to feel satisfied about your life when you regularly take part in recreation activities. This has significant implications for your mental health and, in turn, your physical health. In fact, 90 percent of respondents in a 2000 American Recreation Coalition study reported being satisfied with their health and fitness. In contrast, 60 percent of those who didn't take part in such activity reported not being satisfied with their health and fitness.

Recreational Therapy

All of these health benefits explain why recreational therapy can be such an essential part of a rehabilitation program. This type of therapy involves using various recreation or leisure activities to enhance or promote wellness. The American Therapeutic Recreation Association shines a spotlight on some of the benefits for the populations that commonly take advantage of the therapy including psychiatric patients, recovering addicts, children and seniors. Some of these benefits include faster healing from medical conditions, stress management, improved body function and better cognitive function.

DIFFERENT TYPES OF RECREATIONAL ACTIVITIES

Recreational, from the term recreation, it is an activity done for enjoyment when one is not working. Recreational means, relating or denoting activity done for enjoyment when one is not working. It refers to the time spent in an activity one loves to engage in, with intent to feel refreshed.

Recreational activities help you to take a break from monotony and diversion from the daily routine. It gives people the benefit of a positive change from the stereotypical lifestyle and involves an active participation in entertaining activities that one is interested in. When one does engage in recreating activities that he or she likes, it would naturally give them enjoyment. Recreational activities provides source of joy and relaxation to one’s mind and body.

Aside from giving you the enjoyment that you would want, recreational activities also gives you an opportunity for you to be able to spend time with yourself. Having the time to spend with your self can make you meet your inner self. It will give you an opportunity to know more about yourself deeper.

Also, other recreational activities can give you time to be with your family. You will bond through the activities and give yourselves plenty of opportunity to talk about personal thoughts and updates about each and everyone’s life. After all, you are a family. You must be able to know things about them and of course be close.

Recreational activities could also help you develop your leadership skills as well as interpersonal skills. As certain recreational activities need a lot of members, someone should be able to lead and guide through the course of game. And since there are a lot of members, each should be able to communicate with each other. Each should be able to share their thought on their strategies for the activities thus resulting to developing your interpersonal skill.

Recreation is of two types per type: Passive and active, indoor and outdoor, group and solo.

There are actually many different types of activities that you can choose from:

Sporting to Create
You are actually doing recreational activity through sports. Sports like basketball, volleyball, cricket, baseball, and others are good recreational activities to do. It is a recreational activity and it would also help your body as these sports are also a good way of exercising. As we all know, exercise is good for our body especially if we are stress and overworked in our daily routines.

Recreation through Adventure
If you are an adventurer, for sure this type of recreational activity is the most enjoyable one. Adventure takes form in biking, skiing, bungee jumping and others. Sure, if you are brave enough to do these things. But being on an adventure recreational activity, it would also give you an opportunity to see the beauty of nature.

Diversion through Entertainment
Who doesn’t love music? Who doesn’t love watching movies? How about singing, listening to music and dancing? These activities are also a type of recreational activities. Whatever that we like doing like a hobby or things we do for relaxation are also a form of recreational activity. As we have mentioned earlier, engaging in something that we love is surely a recreation.

Recreation for Amusement
Yes, most of us do recreational activities for our own amusement. Why not? Some of us have entertainment such as video games, computer games, internet surfing, and others. These are the usual amusement activities that we are always doing. Tourism, partying, shopping, visiting parks, museums and visiting historical places are the means of recreational activity for some.

Club to Recreate!
These are the usual recreational activities that your club, friends, company or organizations usually planned for. Usually this type of recreational activity promotes social interaction, team building or just a social gathering.

Here are some examples of recreational activities that you could do:
Outdoor Activities
Volleyball
Basketball
Baseball
River Rafting
Bungee Jumping
Hiking
Scuba Diving
Swimming
Golf
Lawn Tennis
Team Games
Nature Walk
Cycling
Surfing
Horse Riding
Boating
Traveling
Fishing
Pet Training
Beach Games
Museum Visit
Amusement Park
Photography
and others…

Indoor Activities
Music
Dance
Watching Movies
Video Games
Internet Browsing

#3 WORK WITH A SENSE OF ACCOMPLISHMENT

The Importance of Achievement

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  Well I hadn’t planned to be updating this again. I wagered we’d all be standing amidst a sea of cosmic carnage as the angels and devils wage unholy war. So that didn’t happen, and I must admit that it was a disappointment for me at the very least. Does anyone know how to properly dispose of a body? No? Never mind, I didn’t say anything.

  Now where were we? Ah! Achievements, I’m not talking about standing atop a mountain or running a marathon, but achievements in a relatively stationary hobby: Video Games. I strongly feel that this is a tool that is understated by gamers and developers alike.

  Achievements in life, even on the miniscule level, are important. These create tangible or semi-tangible commodities that are produced through acknowledging an experience. The anti-achievement argument seems to stem from the argument that “Games did quite well without them for years.” I’m not so sure that they have not existed in games in one fashion or another for a long time, but even with that not mentioned video games have been constantly evolving for decades. There is almost nothing outside of the hard skeleton of the product that is the same as it was in the 80’s or 90’s.

  The major advance in achievements in gameplay came with online databases. These provided a persistent environment for these accomplishments to carry from game to game. Where previously achievements in a game were contained on a memory card or emotionally on the disc itself they were now shelved in constant environment that all people could observe and thusly their value increased.

  Pixels on the Screen. As some of players I know would say, this is again a very flawed point to make. A song is notes in series, a movie is a series of images, the images a collection of tiny spots of color in series, and the human body a collection of code and a set of base elements (again in series and patterns). We can take any component of life or anything we cherish and deconstruct it into meaningless drivel. It’s a flawed view and one that I won’t examine further, feel free to do so yourself.

  If a person accepts any of the above content as valuable then they shouldn’t have much difficulty finding video game achievements valuable. These things are no less silly than trophies from sports or awards for job performance. In the end its an object that gains as much value as we give to it. The nature of society and individualism dictates that not everyone will agree on the extent of the value but holding any particular part as valuable and another as not is fairly dissonant.

  Obviously there are negatives. Achievements can be treated poorly, constructed without good design and given out for trivial repetitive acts. Properly designed achievements can add enjoyable replay value, give players goals to rise to, and help them experience backstory to a game that they might otherwise never notice. It’s difficult and admittedly done poorly often (in my experience) but when done properly it adds another level of value to the game without much added investment.

  I find it very unlikely that achievements will turn out to be a fad. They tap into an integral part of the human experience, creating tangible otherwise intangible things. Helping us, in a way, materialize a simple indicator of something we previously could not properly express. They can still improve, as can all things, but I believe the groundwork is solid.

Duties are not the same as achievements

Your achievements are the things you did in a job which made a positive impact and contribution to your employer’s business. They demonstrate to a potential employer that you can do the job well. On the other hand, the skills and knowledge you would be expected to have in order to perform your everyday work duties do not count as accomplishments, unless you can demonstrate specifically how you used them to benefit your employer.

Quantify your accomplishments

Accomplishments are not just an exaggerated way of describing your skills and experience, they’re tangible proof of your past performance. They are most powerful when you quantify them using numbers or percentages, for example the statement:

‘increased sales’

is much stronger if the reader knows by how much you increased sales:

‘increased sales by 15%’, or ‘increased sales by £10,000’.

If you don’t know the exact number it’s fine to estimate as long as you state that you are estimating and you are confident that the estimate is fairly accurate and would be confirmed if an interviewer asks a previous employer for a reference.

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Everyone has achievements

A common mistake when creating your CV is assuming that the only sort of contribution that counts is increasing company sales or winning new customers. Sales are undoubtedly very important but there are many other ways to make a positive difference, so don’t be tempted to think that you didn’t make an impact just because you weren’t in a sales role. Other ways that you may have made a contribution to your employer’s business include the following:

• Increasing the loyalty or satisfaction of existing customers • Solving a problem or challenge, e.g., decreasing customer complaints • Saving money, e.g., negotiating a better deal from a supplier Saving time, e.g., suggesting a new time-saving process

• Developing an idea your employer acted on • Launching new products, projects or initiatives • Increasing the company press coverage or market recognition

How to identify achievements

One of the best ways way to identify your career accomplishments is to look at your skills and previous job duties one-by-one. As you go through them ask yourself what positive difference you made to your employer while you were doing that particularly activity.

Also review work-related feedback you’ve been given including positive comments and praise as well as formal inputs, e.g., the results of performance reviews.

Outside opinions can be helpful

Some people have difficulty identifying their achievements and find it helpful to get input from supportive colleagues and friends, or even previous employers. Asking someone else to make an objective assessment of why you were particularly good at your job is likely to reveal things which you may not have considered. They may also be able to help you quantify the difference you made.

Individual versus team achievements

If some of your best results were achieved as part of a team you can certainly still include them, for example:

‘member of a high-performing team which won the regional support award last year’

Highlighting team performance demonstrates not only that you’re a high-achiever, but also that you’re a good team player. However it doesn’t tell a prospective employer how you contributed to the team’s success, so for maximum impact you need to make sure that you include specific details of the role you played. Don’t leave the person reading your CV to guess what your contribution was.

Personal achievements

People with little or no previous work experience should still aim to include achievements on their CV. If you’re in this position it’s fine to include accomplishments from other parts of your life as long as they are relevant to the job you are applying for. Areas to look for achievements include volunteering roles, sporting activities and your academic record, for example:

• Raising money for charity – quantify the money raised and what you did to raise it • Serving on a community or student committee – what role did you play and how did you make a difference? • Leading a student team on a project – what size was the team and what did it achieve under your leadership? • Awards won – don’t just list the awards, elaborate on what you did to win them

Accuracy is vital

It’s important to be honest about your achievements. Don’t be tempted to exaggerate as it’s very easy for employers to check on your claims. False information on a CV is very likely to result in your elimination from the application process or even criminal charges or dismissal if you’ve already been hired. Make sure that you can back up your claims with further details and be prepared to elaborate on them in an interview.

#4 WORSHIP ACCORDING TO ONE'S FAITH

What is the importance of religion ?

In Sociology the word 'religion' is used in a wider sense, than that is used in religious books. Thus some sociologists define religion as those institutionalized system of beliefs, symbols, value that provide groups of men with solution to the question of ultimate meaning. Though the religion is a highly personal thing, yet it has a social aspect and social role to play. It has been a powerful agency in society and performs many important social functions. According to A. Green, religion has three universal functions. These are:

(1) Religion explains individual suffering

Man does not live by knowledge alone. He is an emotional creature. Religion serves to the emotions of man in times of his sufferings and disappointment. On God religion puts faith and entertains the belief that some unseen power moves in mysterious ways to make even his loss meaningful. In this way religion gives release from sorrow and release from fear. It helps man to bear his frustration and integrate his personality.

(2) Religion enhances self-importance

Religion expands one's self to infinite proportions. Man unites himself with the Infinite and feels ennobled. Society also gains from the self-flattery provided by religious belief. Religion assures a greater reward in the afterlife to worldly failures than to successful life. Such kind of assurance encourages members to continue to play their part in society.

(3) Religion comes as a source of social cohesion

Religion is the ultimate source of social cohesion. The primary requirement of society is the possession of social values by which individuals control the action of self and others and through which society is perpetuated. Science and technology cannot create this value. Religion is the foundation upon which these values rest. Children should obey their parents, should not tell lie, women should be faithful to men, people should be honest and Virtuous, are some of the social values which maintain social cohesion.

(4) Religion encourages social welfare

Religion has also performed some other services to humanity like the provision of work, the priesthood often dedicated to art and culture. The priesthood lays the foundation of medicine. It also fulfils the functions of scholars and scientists. Religion has served humanity through spreading of education and also creating the habit of charity among the people who open many charitable institutions like hospitals, rest houses, temples and to help the poor.

(5) Religion is the agency of social control

Religion provides a model for living. It upholds certain ideals and values. The believer imbibes these ideals and values in his life. Religion can help youth generation to become moral, disciplined and socialized citizens of society.

(6) Religion controls economic life

Max Weber was of the view that religion also controls the economic life. To Weber, capitalism grew in the Protestant nations like England, U.S.A. It did not grow in Italy and Spain where the people are Catholic. The Hindus lay great stress on spiritual progress than on material progress. Hence, materialism could not grow in India.

Conclusion

Thus, from the discussion we know that religion is the central element in the life of civilization. Throughout the ages it is a proof of its values. It has been the propagator of basic values and ethical code which provide cohesion to society and integration to personality. If one looks dispassionately into the charges against religion and admits all of them, in the end, he is constrained to believe that the article was worth the cost.

#5 COMMUNICATE WITH OTHERS BY EXPRESSING EMOTIONS

What are the benefits of improving interpersonal communication skills?

Even those who are individual contributors in the workplace need to be able to communicate effectively with bosses and customers. Most people have colleagues with whom they need to communicate in order to be successful at their job. Every one of us has her/his own preferred style of communicating with others. In addition, given our unique histories, we have different strategies for communicating in different types of situations. As a result, there is a very real possibility that when two of us get together there are certain circumstances in which we are less effective at communicating with each other than we would like. By increasing your repertoire of interpersonal communication skills, you can increase your overall effectiveness and perhaps your job satisfaction.

How to Express Your Feelings

Two Parts:Identifying Your EmotionsExpressing Your Emotions Appropriately

Odds are that you're reading this because you have a bit of trouble expressing your feelings properly. Everyone knows that it's unhealthy (and rather stressful) to keep your feelings on the inside, as people who do often end up at a disadvantage. Once you learn how to properly vent these emotions, you'll be able to communicate with others - as well as yourself - much better. It's not always easy to express your feelings, but it's rewarding when you do.

Part 1 of 2: Identifying Your Emotions

1

Accept your feelings. Before you can do anything else, you have to recognize and accept that you are going to have feelings and that those feelings are okay. What you are going to have to learn is how those feelings operate in your daily life and how you can deal with/express them more productively. Ask yourself the three following questions:

• What is the feeling?
• What is the feeling telling me about the situation?
• Why has this feeling feeling appeared now?

2

Learn to recognize your feelings. Everyone's way of feeling is different. Sadness, anger, excitement etc. are all presented in different ways for each individual. Taking the time when you're not emotionally triggered to think about your feelings can be useful for when they pop up.

• Try writing down a list of emotions, such as anger, delight, sadness, fear, etc. Think about each one and see when, or if, you've experienced those emotions. Make a note of how you feel when you are sad. For example, maybe your throat gets choked up and your lips get tight when you are sad. This will help you identify the emotion when it happens to you.
• Behaviors like excessive criticism, discounting the positives and focusing on the negative aspects of the situation, passive aggressive behaviors, blaming others, and worrying about the future, instead of enjoying life, can often be signs of withholding anger. You will need to try to trace different feelings back to their source emotion.

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3

Pay attention to your body's response. Your emotions are governed by the limbic system in the brain and and the involuntary, autonomic nervous system. In times of emotional distress, you might experience an increased heart-rate, increased and shallow breathing, perspiration, and trembling. Your body's reaction to emotion can have very real physical side effects.^[1]

• Pent up emotions damage your physical well-being, so learning to express them is important for your physical health, as well as for your mental health.
• When you withhold your feelings it can lead to tension in your muscle groups, neck, back, shoulder, and jaws. You can see when someone's angry the tension that builds in their cheek, their neck, even their pelvic area.
• If you are experiencing increased emotional response that can lead to stress. Stress can cause increased blood pressure, accelerate heart rate and arousal of the sympathetic nervous system, which can weaken your heart.
• Hanging on to feelings can lead to a psychosomatic illnesses like headaches, ulcers, blood pressure, asthma, cardiac problems.
• All this means that your emotions are powerful and communicate with the body. If you deal effectively with your feelings, you are eliminating the potential for harmful, physical side effects.

4

Interpret your emotional response to events. A good mantra to repeat to yourself is "it isn't the situation, it's my response to the situation that causes problems." Events that you experience are influenced by your own thoughts and experiences, which means that the emotional reaction comes from you.

• For example, two different people both get an 85% on an examination. The first person might be elated because they have difficulty with the subject. The second person might be angry and/or upset, because they didn't get the top grade. They are reacting to the same situation differently, because of the thoughts and experiences connected with it.
• You'll need to recognize if your emotional reaction to an event is disproportionate and what the underlying cause might be. For instance, the second person from the example above, might throw a fit because they didn't get the grade they wanted. This is a disproportionate response to the event, probably caused by anxiety and stress.
• Also, you can easily feel multiple emotions about an event at the same time, even ones that might seem contradictory. The first person, above, could be happy that they got an 85%, but still stressed or upset, because they find the subject of the examination difficult.

Part 2 of 2: Expressing Your Emotions Appropriately

1

Practice experimental focus. You need to learn to tune into your body so you understand what it is trying to tell you and how it is reacting to certain circumstances. This means setting aside time to calmly assess and identify your feelings and thought patterns.^[2]

• In a comfortable space, relax your body for five to ten minutes and domeditation or calming exercises to relax your muscles.
• Ask yourself: "What am I feeling?" and tune into that place in your body that feels emotional sensations like fear, sadness, anger, etc.
• Calmly listen to what you are feeling, but don't react to it. In this place you are trying to be an observer rather than an active and reactive participant.
• Once you have figured out, somewhat, what you are feeling, ask yourself "where in my body is this feeling?" "What is the shape and texture of this feeling?" "Does this feeling have a color?" Giving concrete form to your feelings, helps you accurately and positively express them.

2

Consider your options. You need to realize that first and foremost, how you express your feelings is a choice that only you can make. There is no one absolutely true way to express yourself, although there are ways that are harmful both to yourself, and to others.

• For example: say a friend is leaving town and you recognize that you are upset and sad that she's leaving. You could choose to avoid her to minimize the pain to yourself, you could choose to pick a fight with her and make the experience "easier" through anger, or you could choose to spend as much time with her as possible, perhaps even help her with the move. The choice is yours.
• Again, there is no right choice, but the first option means that you aren't dealing with the feelings, the second means that you are channeling your unhappiness into a hurtful manner, and the third option opens the both of you up for continued sadness.

3

Express your emotions verbally. This can mean finding someone you trust to talk out the situation and the accompanying emotions, this can mean writing things down in a journal, or writing poetry. Or it can mean talking with someone who you feel caused you feel sadness, or anger, or other emotion.^[3]

• Refer back to the list of different emotions you made and use that to help you determining what it is you're feeling in the moment. It can be very difficult to articulate emotions as they are happening and having a list, or tool can help you sort your feelings out.
• When you're talking to someone who has said something that has hurt you (made you angry, defensive, etc) the best way is to use "I feel..." statements, rather than "You made me feel..." The reasons behind this are manifold: it takes away your own agency (no one can make you feel anything; you are the one who makes you feel something), and it puts the other person on the defensive, shutting down communication, rather than opening it up.
• Sometimes when you are dealing with someone who has said something hurtful, or upsetting, writing out a letter to them, or an email can be useful, as it takes away the immediacy of the hurt, and gives you time to process how you're feeling and how best to make them understand what wasn't okay about what they said or did.

4

Express your emotions physically. Because our emotions are linked to our physical bodies, using your body to express and diffuse your emotions can be incredibly helpful (think expressions like "jumping for joy," etc).^[4]

• If you are struggling to express your sadness, for instance, listening to evocative music, reading a book or poem or watching a movie that invites an emotional response can help release the feelings of sadness you're undergoing.
• Anger is an emotion we often try to are told to hide, but this can lead to anxiety and stress. When you're dealing with someone who has triggered anger in you, expressing your anger on inanimate objects (like a stress ball, or a punching bag) can help alleviate the anger before you speak with them about how they triggered this anger response.
• Likewise, with anger, dealing with a person or situation in a non-accusatory, but assertive manner (not aggressive), will help you more effectively negotiate your feelings of anger.