For all of us, there are times when we have to say how we feel. Whether it’s a loved one who has passed away or a close friend who is going through a difficult time, sometimes words just can’t say enough. So what do you say when you need to know what to say?
This guide will walk you through the most common feelings and situations in which they arise and give you some phrases that might help.
The Importance of Knowing How to Say How You Feel
While it may seem like little else than a nice gesture, learning to say how you feel actually makes the world go round. To say ‘I love you,’ for example, is one of the most important phrases in someone’s life. It binds people together and makes them happier and more fulfilled. You say it to your mom or dad or partner or friend or child, yet knowing how to say ‘I love you’ goes beyond just any one relationship.
It binds all of us together.
The Different Ways To Say How You Feel
There are many ways that people say how they feel. Yet, these phrases tend to go in a few different directions. Sometimes you say how you feel because it’s easy and sometimes because it’s hard–but you say it either way.
The easier times include:
· I love you/I care about you
· You’re my best friend/I’m happy to see you
The hard times include:
· I don’t like you
· I’m not interested in seeing you again
What is the Best Way to Express Emotions?
Take the time to say how you feel, say it as directly as possible, and say it in a way that makes them feel understood.
You can say what you mean without being hurtful or passive-aggressive because knowing about saying how you feel is a crucial part of knowing how to say what’s on your mind–and learning to say what’s on your mind is a crucial part of life.
Do not say how you feel in a way that takes away from the other person’s agency or worth as a human being–this means that say how you feel should either be focused on your reaction to them, not their character, or it should say what is true for you without saying anything negative about them.
Do say how you feel in a way that shows they are not alone. This can be done by expressing that if they were to say how they feel, it would likely sound similar to what you say. For example, say “I know this is hard for you–it’s hard for me too.”
How to Express Your Negative Feelings in a Positive Way
Sometimes, say how you feel in a way that focuses on the positive. This helps the other person know that this isn’t about them as a person but about something they did wrong.
This can be difficult when it comes to emotions like anger or sadness, which are often heavy. Yet say how you feel in a way that doesn’t say anything about their character but focuses on your reaction to them instead. For example, say something like ‘I felt hurt/invisible’ rather than ‘you made me feel invisible.’
If you say how you feel in a positive way, it can be more difficult to say what you want. Yet expressing emotions is not about getting your way–it’s the other person’s prerogative to do what they want regardless of how you say how you feel. So say what is true for you in the situation, even if it doesn’t get met with an apology or agreement immediately.
How Words Can Help Make Someone Feel Better
Words are powerful. They can hurt us or they can make us happier than anything else in the world. Knowing how to say how you feel is more than just a skill–it’s an art form.
Words have a way of making us feel better when we say them to the right people and say them in the right way. That is why understanding how to say how you feel is such a powerful tool.
Knowing the words to say is especially powerful when you say them because it’s hard. So say how you feel–no matter what.
10 Tips & Strategies for Saying How You Feel
1. Be truthful.
2. Don’t say anything you don’t mean or say something like ‘I hate it’ when you only dislike it somewhat.
3. When saying how you feel, say it in a way that gives them the benefit of the doubt–they might not have intended to be hurtful or do something wrong and say how you feel in a way that acknowledges this.
4. Remember, words can’t fix everything–but knowing how to say what you mean and say it as directly as possible does help people feel better about tough situations.
5. If you’re not sure what to say, say how you feel anyways–even if you say it in an indirect way.
6. Sometimes say simple things like ‘I love you’ or ‘you’re my best friend.’ It doesn’t matter if they don’t say it back; what matters is that you say what’s on your mind and mean it.
7. When say how you feel, say it in a way that acknowledges what they’re going through too. For example, say ‘I know this is hard for you’ or ‘I’m sorry about what happened.’
8. Say how you feel the same way every time–don’t switch it up!
9. Use say how you feel as a way to say goodbye to someone–it’s often the last thing you say until you say ‘see you later’ at least.
10. Say how you think they feel too, not just how they made you feel. For example, say ‘I feel like you don’t care and I feel like you aren’t my friend anymore’ instead of ‘you don’t care about me and we’re not friends anymore.’
Final Thoughts
The more you know about how to say what you feel, the better. So there’s no need for guessing games anymore. We hope this article can help you say how you feel with ease.