Feeling Heard

Written By Colēgia

As people one of the most basic things we want is to feel heard and have some sense of validation. While we shouldn't rely on validation outside of ourselves, we're human and we can't always be perfect. When we don't feel heard it might affect our self-esteem and mental well-being since it can be stressful. Today we want to talk about some ways to manage this along with making things easier on ourselves.

Recognize When It Upsets You

Recognizing when things start to get to you is one of the best first steps we can take when we don't feel heard. A good example of this is when we consistently ask someone to do something for us that they agreed to or to respect our boundaries and they don't follow through. This can make us feel upset and for good reason as well. If we truly aren't asking for too much then it's reasonable to feel this way. With that in mind, holding on to this feeling only really makes us feel worse which doesn't help. Building awareness and managing it when it arises can make it much easier to sort through since it prevents us from building up resentment with others. Stress might seem hard to deal with in the moment but addressing it sooner can make it so that we can still reclaim our time and power.

“Recognizing when things start to get to you is one of the best first steps we can take when we don't feel heard.”

Not Taking Things Personally

It's good to understand that not everything is a personal attack. When we don't feel heard it isn't always out of someone being malicious and in many cases it could be because people are too focused on their own problems. This can help us be more empathetic towards those around us because it helps us understand why they act the way they do. People aren't perfect and we need to have realistic expectations about feeling heard. If someone is tired or overwhelmed then it's a sign to be aware of that and give them a break since we don't know what they're going through. Sometimes not feeling heard is about what the other person is experiencing since they might need that same feeling of validation as well.

“Sometimes not feeling heard is about what the other person is experiencing”

Express Yourself

Being able to express yourself in a healthy manner is essential if we want to feel heard. People aren't as likely to be receptive if we communicate something when we're angry or upset. As frustrating as things can be, we need to find constructive ways to address our frustration when we don't feel heard so we can communicate things better. A good approach is to have creative outlets to let out any negative feelings we have to reset ourselves back to a state of stability. Doing this can help us distance ourselves from things so that we can have a better perspective when we eventually return to our situation. Being heard requires us to be aware of how we're expressing things and not necessarily requiring validation from an outside source. Communication has many nuances and complexities but at the end of the day finding out how to improve how we express ourselves can make a world of difference.

Colēgia

Colēgia

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