Tell me how you really feel . . .

Have you wondered how to have more meaningful relationships? We often talk about the importance of communication and sharing our feelings in our closest relationships. Yet, many of us are not equipped to say more about our feelings than, “I feel fine.” As we learn to name more feelings, our relationships grow. I feel “fine” might become I feel, “encouraged, hopeful, moved, thankful, friendly, content, discouraged, hurt” or a variety of other feelings. This tells those who are closest to us more about who we are. Sharing deeper feelings lets people in – and builds understanding between two people. For example, being able to expand “I feel fine” to “I feel discouraged” lets the other person know more about what we need. The other person can then guess that we need encouragement. Or, “I feel fine” becomes “I feel inspired.” This moves the conversation to a different level – and we start to share what’s really going on in our lives at a deeper level. Developing our vocabulary of words that describe our feelings is one easy skill for building relationships and getting to know ourselves better.