In my journey recently to better understanding my emotions, i discovered that we all have emotional needs that have to be met, just like feeding and resting.

I also realized that we tend to rely on others (subconsciously) to meet our emotional needs.

We expect others to make us feel safe, secure, understood and accepted.

These are our emotional rights.

But expectations can easily become a burden to the people we put them on.

As we grow older, we can learn how to identify and meet our own emotional needs so we can be more self sufficient.

Emotional needs are :

• Safety : How safe do we feel in our own bodies?

Is our environment safe, not just physically but mentally?

Are we truly safe with the current company we keep?

We have to be able to trust that we are in good hands.

• Security : How secure do we feel in our own bodies, and with the people around us?

We have to make a conscious effort to feel confident in ourselves. So whatever or whoever is presented before us does not distract us from ourselves.

This can be particularly difficult if you are an emotional person.

The good thing is practice makes perfect.

• Understanding: We should get to understand our traits, both good and bad.

We should also make a conscious effort to do better for ourselves first, then for others.

I used to always blame my partner for most of our disagreements.

But with time I realized that I also had some enabling traits as well.

Developing that awareness has helped me gradually set conscious boundaries with myself and my loved ones.

• Acceptance: It is essential that we learn to accept ourselves in the present, just as we are.

No senrere.

This might be a little harder to achieve if we grew up with critical guardians.

The beautiful thing about acceptance is how much it frees you.

It is good to dream big, but in the process of dreaming big we have to be gentle with ourselves in the present.

Give yourself as many chances as you can.

Take a break for 5 minutes.

Sit.

Close your eyes.

Breathe…