Many of you have seen the recent Disney movie: Inside Out. For those of you that haven't, Disney did an excellent job of giving you a glimpse of what might be going on inside someone else's mind.
When I saw this movie, I not only thought that it was adorably funny, but also realized that there is actually a lot of content that you can take away from the movie and learn from; In fact, here are 11 of them.
1. All your emotions are useful.
However insignificant and useless some of your emotions may seem, they play a role in your well being. When used right, all are useful.
2. Emotions are neither good nor bad.
It seems as though our society has deemed sadness as a sign of weakness. For me, I am not much of a crier, so when people ask me about it, I find myself saying "I'm just tough." I don't mean this to say that those that cry aren't tough, but I think that I have just picked it up from society. Either way, there is nothing wrong with being sad; it's even healthy at times!
3. You can't bottle up all your emotions.
I know that it is most everyone's go to form of expression, but it's not healthy to hold everything inside and say that you're fine when you are not. It's ok to talk to someone about how you are feeling; you are not being a bother to them.
4. It's ok to not be ok.
Going off of point number 3, I know that we like to seem like everything is fine. Like we have everything together and that we are ok. But it is important that we know that sometimes, it's ok not to be ok. We don't have to have everything together.
5. Emotions come and go.
For an emotionally healthy person, it's ok for emotions to come and go. When we feel a specific emotion, we aren't supposed to hold onto that feeling forever. For example: When someone makes us angry, we need to forgive them, and let that emotion go.
6. Listen to emotions that keep showing up.
If you keep feeling the same emotion over and over again (sadness, anger, frustration, hurt) its, a good indication that something is wrong. Listen to that emotion and address the issue at hand.
7. A memory can have more than one emotion.
This movie does a really good job of showing you that emotions aren't as clear cut as we would like to think. A memory can be both happy and sad.
8. Your emotions don't have the final say.
Even though emotions influence you in the way that you feel, they don't have the final say. Ultimately, you have the final say in the decisions you make and the things you say. Your emotions don't have control over you unless you let them.
9. You can influence your emotions.
If you start off the day by saying it will be a good day, then it will. It's all about your attitude and outlook in life. In the movie, Joy (one of the emotions) says this, "All right everyone, fresh start! We're gonna have a good day, which will turn into a good week, which will turn into a good year, which will turn into a good life!” Its all about the way that you view life.
10. You can be reactive to other people's emotions.
It's easy for someone who is angry or frustrated to make you feel easily angered or frustrated as well. Emotions can almost be contagious in a way. The same reason why you would rather be around someone uplifting and positive as opposed to someone that is constantly negative.
11. Embrace all of your emotions.
Emotions help express your personality. They make your life more colorful and complete. So whether you like the emotion that you are feeling or not, embrace it. Because those emotions help make you the person that you are.
As you can see, these are just a few things that you can take away from the movie Inside Out. If you haven't seen it already, I encourage you to do so. As you go throughout your week, I also encourage you to be aware of your emotions, how they are affecting you, and how they are affecting others.
