Emotions: they come in all shapes, all sizes and all varieties. Sometimes they come in a calm flurry and other times, they hit you like a brick wall. But they always come.

You can’t blame yourself for the emotions that come naturally with your current or past surroundings and situations. You will feel negative emotions, and you will be overcome by joyous feelings. The best way to live with your calm and crazy emotions is to realize that they are good to have and beautiful as they are.

It is good to know that if you are going to be joyous, then be joyous.

And if you are going to be nervous, then be nervous.

Furthermore, if you are going to be furious, then be furious.

But do not let these emotions hold you down. Taking time to reflect on your emotions and find out where they came from will help you to better understand and embrace them.

One of my reoccurring emotions that I’m trying to understand is my impatience. I have found myself becoming more impatient at work and at home, with both my friends and family. I noticed that I was becoming irritated by so many little things, so instead of pushing it away, I decided to take a second look at it.

Looking back at my life, I see that from my very first job as kitchen help, I have always been trained to work quickly and keep up with the fast-paced environment around me. The expectations that have surrounded my jobs and my extracurricular activities have been to keep busy and keep going.

Without my marching band keeping my schedule full this summer, I have had a lot more free time. This partially explains why I have been experiencing more feelings of impatience.

I have become so used to a fast-paced and quickly-moving life that slowing down for me has been difficult. That’s where my impatience has come from. It has not solely come from the little things that have been happening. It was a much bigger picture than I thought it was.

This was such a good reminder to me to understand my impatience instead of shaming myself for it. I am able to recognize where I am right now, and I can go from here.

This is what you should do with all of your emotions. Stop and look to see where they come from. This will help you understand the tough emotions and embrace the joyous emotions.

I know that we do not always have enough time in all of the moments or the days to simply stop and think about what you’re experiencing, but when you can, I encourage you to stop and acknowledge your emotions.

Your emotions are meant to be embraced. Take them as they are and see them as being beautiful that way. Your emotions deserve to be recognized as natural and beautiful.