Video: There aren't good & bad feelings, just healthy & unhealthy expressions

I was listening to the radio the other day and heard the mantra in the lyrics of yet another song, “Fear is a liar…”

Then someone posted a meme on Instagram, saying the same thing.

Though it sounds true, and though I understand the sentiment behind this “bumper sticker-ism,” fear isn’t a liar. Rather, fear is a valid emotion, an expression of something happening deep inside (often because of some external circumstance) that our heart seeks to communicate to us.

If you’re about to step off the edge of a cliff, fear is healthy. Fear might save you from walking down a dark alley, keep you from engaging in a verbal barrage with a bully, or stop you from crossing a railroad track when there’s an oncoming train. You get the idea.

No, we don’t want to be controlled by fear, but we do want to hear what our heart says. Even when it communicates feelings of fear.

That leads me to this…

We’re often afraid to talk about— or even feel— the “bad” emotions. We’ve been told that fear and anger and some of the other emotions aren’t healthy. Hence the “bumper sticker-isms,” memes, and pithy one-liners. 

Let me offer a different perspective: There aren’t bad emotions and good emotions. Just healthy and unhealthy expressions of all of them. Many of us are taught— from a young age— to be afraid of the “bad” emotions. But, we shouldn’t be.