Feelings are a tricky part of our humanness. Some people repress their feelings - chin up, move forward, ignore the hurt, no pain - no gain. Parents repress kids feelings (come on, we all do it, feelings slow down our day), "You are NOT allowed to cry about goldfish (candy, tv, i phones, etc)." Some people express their feelings - the day stops, the feelings lurch forward, overtake the task at hand. We must dissect, analyze and talk about the feeling. Parents are wowed, overwhelmed impressed with their kids expression of feelings, "Oh dear, you don't want to eat the lentil soup, well let me make you a cheese sandwich so you don't cry." "Alright, 10 more minutes on the device, but then NO CRYING!" (hahhahahaha)

Feelings are only part of the story - feelings interact with thoughts and action. For example, have you ever NOT felt like working out and then you start (take an action) and then it changes your feeling, and then you have a new thought, "Hey, this work out isn't so bad.".

Or you are working diligently on your project and you have the thought, "I don't know what to write next", then suddenly an over powering feeling of hunger (or needing to fold the clothes, or call your sister) and you suddenly stand up and take the action of getting up for almonds (or the laundry, or get your phone and dial your sister) and the procrastination on your project begins.

Next time you are stuck in a feeling, try a new action. Or you are stuck in a thought, try a fresh action. And if you are stuck in non-productive action, try a new thought. Mix and match, see how you can play with feelings, thoughts and actions to smooth out your day. Let me know how it goes!