At the end of the movie Act of Valor, a soldier reads a letter to his son. He advises him to be a man who stands up for what’s right, defend his family & country with pride, and be a rock for those around him. He also tells him that sometimes life is hard and upsetting. And during those times, when you feel the emotions rising to the surface, bottle them and don’t let them out.
When we watched this scene together, my wife said, “That doesn’t sound healthy”.
I get it. But I also get the point he was making to his son. Don’t be overwhelmed by your emotions to the point they are in control. That means that you may have to push emotions to the side temporarily to get the job done.
As men this usually comes easy to us. At the very least, we get the concept and can think of times each of us had to do just that. Push emotions to the side and get the job done.
That’s good for getting things done in stressful situations.
That’s bad for identifying what lies just beneath the surface, and ultimately driving our behaviors.
Below is what’s called an Emotions Wheel. There are a variety of them out there, google will lead you to plenty.
