All Feelings Are Valid

All Feelings Are Valid – I 100% agree with this statement.

Often the feelings which come to mind when I read this statement are anger, happiness, sadness and frustration, all of which are valid, but fairly generalized emotions. I find myself thinking “okay, yes all feelings are valid, but it would be really nice if this was elaborated on”.

Sometimes there are feelings and emotions which might not be immediately obvious to someone who reads this statement (like myself, I initially thought of more generalized feelings and emotions, when there’s so much more than that).

Feelings and emotions are messy AF at times – humans are messy AF, too (in case that wasn’t evident already). Which is why I feel like it’s important to go beyond the initial statement and emotions that arise from “all feelings are valid” in order to dig deep to the root of our feelings/emotions.

I’ve popped up some feelings of my own that I have experienced. Feeling sad is of course a valid emotion, but so is feeling like a burden, feeling like shit and feeling unloveable, all of which are a bit more specific beyond the initial feeling of sadness.

Getting more specific about which feelings were valid to me, also helped me to better identify them, to acknowledge them and sit with them.

Maybe it’s because I like things to be spelt out for me, and I like to get into the meat and potatoes of how a statement applies to me, but I guess take today’s post as a reminder that, of course your feelings are valid, but they can range from more generalized emotions to something specific.

And if you prefer the statement as is, or perhaps to elaborate on what you are feeling is too painful or sad, that’s okay too.