What to Do When You Experience an Emotional Block
Everyone has suffered from an emotional block at some point. It makes you feel like there’s a wall that’s keeping you from facing new challenges. Insecurity is one of the most obvious manifestations of an emotional block, which holds you back from achieving your goals.
Think of a traffic jam. You’re in a rush, but suddenly you find that you can’t move ahead, no matter how much you want to. That’s what an emotional block is like.
This doesn’t always affect every area of life. That is, you can suffer from a block related to work, but not your personal or emotional life. Or it could be the other way around; you get stuck when trying to establish a stable emotional relationship, and then insecurity appears and prevents you from getting that job that would really make you happy. Maybe you’ve turned into a conformist. If the block occurs with respect to your relationships, your insecurity will make you pretend to be someone you’re not. You’ll put on a mask that makes you feel secure, but instead of protecting you, it’ll just cover up the real problem.
Why am I experiencing an emotional block?
Many emotional blocks have to do with your self-esteem or with experiences that have made you act a certain way. Imagine that you have gone through some stormy romantic relationships. This has triggered a particular set of attitudes towards the people you like: now it’s hard for you to trust, you feel insecure, and you’re afraid of getting hurt again.
Fear and insecurity can trigger an emotional block that you don’t know how to escape from. Then, you start to feel embarrassed over speaking in public, you’re afraid of rejection, you’re invaded by pessimism, you feel envy and jealousy, you judge others, etc.
An emotional block can make you feel negative emotions and feelings that block you up even more, preventing you from moving forward. But they can all be influenced by your environment, which can act as a deterrent and a catalyst at the same time. What does this all mean?
I’ve been endowed with feelings and emotions, which can make me get stuck and prevent me from leaving my comfort zone.
Imagine that you feel very insecure at work. Your emotional block is preventing you from achieving your goals, but something in your environment is also favoring this. Maybe competition between coworkers is one of the causes. Being constantly evaluated or being paid a lot of attention can also add to the block.
Get moving to unblock yourself
You might think it’s difficult or impossible to break free of your emotional block right now, but you are completely wrong. You just need to get moving, take action. All of the insecure thoughts that haunt you are causing you to remain still. You can push against them and start to move forward.
Think about all the questions that run through your mind day after day. “Why should I go if they might not hire me?,” “I’m a failure, I’ll never achieve the thing I want so bad,” “I don’t think I’ll like it,” “if I act like myself, they’ll think I’m stupid,” “I’m going to make a mistake and everyone will laugh at me,” “everyone else is so much better than me…”
Is it not true that these thoughts have passed through your mind at some point? The only option you have is to act when you’re afraid of hearing the word “no.” Accept that the answer might be no, but try to see if you can get a yes. What do you have to lose?
Try to oppose the inertia that your emotions have created. Are you afraid of being ridiculed by putting yourself out there? If you don’t do it, you’ll never be able to prove yourself wrong. Sometimes it’s good to convince yourself that you already are what you would like to be. For example, saying things like “I like to speak in public,” or “I’m not afraid of being ridiculed.”
An emotional block can help you think about things more, take your time. But if it lasts too long, you must remedy it.
What if the emotional block is regarding your relationships? Consider that if you suffer a rejection, maybe it’s because that person isn’t right for you, that venturing out and expressing how you feel is great practice for overcoming your fears… Try to always see the positive side of everything that happens to you. Believe me, there is always a positive side.
It’s normal to experience an emotional block, and it can help you test yourself and do what your emotions are telling you not to do. Although, if you listen to them better, you’ll realize that what they’re actually telling you to do is overcome your insecurities and fears.
Hopefully they make you push yourself. Sometimes, it’s not always a positive thing to feel good and comfortable. Sometimes you have to leave your comfort zone and take risks, even if it scares you and gives you goosebumps.