I’ve seen literally thousands of ways to deal with other people’s emotional drama. However, few of them result in positive change. I am more inclined to say that what you do is not nearly as important as “why do you do it”. What I’m saying here is to make sure you’re being authentic.
A client called me and wanted some advice because he felt guilty about something. They wanted to “get over it,” but I reminded them that nature creates guilt for a reason. Maybe it would be better if they changed whatever they were doing that was causing them guilt.
Dealing with other people’s emotions is a great test of strength. Can you stay still in the storm? If you remain ambivalent about his emotions, you are absolutely available for communication, whereas if you react, well, now you know that his emotions were actually yours.
You see, nature produces emotions of other people that mirror the emotions that are happening within us. Someone is mad at you, well sadly it means “you are mad at you” So if you are reacting to their emotion, you are.
Not reacting to someone’s emotion may seem a bit harsh because you’re not bringing it up. However, when one person is drowning, you usually don’t jump and cause trouble for two people, you get ropes, life jackets, and things to help out. So reacting means you were attracted to them.
If there is no reaction, “your stress is not your stress.” If there is a reaction within you, then they have helped you evolve. Avoid blaming people for how you feel, instead say “thank you, I never realized what was going on inside of me until now”.
More tips later.
With spirit
Chris