Advocating can bring up many different emotions.
There might be positive emotions like:
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Pride when you stand up for yourself
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Hope when you think you’re gaining ground
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Compassion when others advocate alongside you
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Joy when you achieve your goal
And then there are the more difficult emotions like:
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Frustration when someone disagrees with your point-of-view
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Anger when someone is not treating you fairly
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Sadness when you are not successful in your advocacy
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Fear when you have to speak up for yourself
It can be challenging to manage this roller coaster of emotions as an advocate. If you are going to continue to advocate, it’s important that you have strategies and tools in place to manage all the difficult emotions that will come.
It is totally natural to feel difficult emotions sometimes, and it’s not bad to be emotional. However, there are healthy and unhealthy ways to deal with strong feelings.
Here are some ideas for how to deal with difficult emotions in a healthy way:
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Ground yourself
- Focus on your breathing
- Count down from ten to one
- Focus on your present experience: what you can see, touch, hear, smell or taste
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Think helpful thoughts
- Remember that the feeling will not last forever
- Remind yourself of times you have gotten through hard situations
- Tell yourself that you are doing the best you can
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Let the emotions out
- Call a friend or someone you trust to talk about it
- Dance to loud music
- Exercise or get outside
- Watch a sad movie and cry
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Calm or soothe yourself
- Eat a favourite snack slowly and mindfully
- Hold some ice in your hand or splash really cold water on your face. Focus on the intense cold sensation.
- Have a warm, cozy beverage
- Listen to peaceful music
- Put on comfy clothes
- Light a candle
