A couple of times in our marriage, my Boo and I have had experiences of one person having a cold while the other simply catches it a few days after.
Such are NEGATIVE EMOTIONS, they are as contagious as cold!
When either of the partners is unhappy, stressed, or burdened, it’s just a matter of time before the other person gets infected.
However, with proper care, attentiveness, and preventive measures we get over it. Just like some days when either of us is experiencing sore throat, we take precautionary measures, commence treatments, and sometimes we have had chances of both not getting down with the contagious symptoms.
As it relates to negative emotions, the symptoms can be prevented by doing some of the following:
- Be aware: Recognise when you are tending towards negative emotions. Any type of emotion is proof that you are human, so validate it, because your emotions are real. Then empower your choice to embrace the positive emotions rather than dwell on the negative.
- Act contrary to your negative emotions. If you feel unhappy, do things that can boost your happiness level. This is because, when you allow negative emotions to linger for too long, it tends to affect your partner and relationship negatively. There are many things to do e.g. you could play music, watch comedy or movies (please add to the list).
- Imitate Your Partner: If your partner is excited or has a higher dose of positive emotions, you could share in their positivity. My husband has a happier disposition and attitude towards life and happenings, and I have learned to imitate him. This has served as a positive hormone booster for me.
- Stress Reduction: Stress is one of the factors that can trigger negative emotions. You need to find your special way of de-escalating stress. While it is impossible to live a stress-free life because a level of stress is part of healthy living, when your level of stress is above what can help you function adequately, it will generate more negativity with bad implications. So, identify your stressor, and your limits and embrace coping mechanisms to convert them to positives.
- Fight to Settle: There are bound to be differences in relationships, however, if these differences are approached from the angle of seeing each other as oppositions, then the outcome will be unfavorable. You and your spouse are on the same team, when one person experiences hurt, neglect, fear, etc, couples should see the emotions as a source of interruption and face it as a team.
Our emotions are part of us, but we can leverage them to improve our relationship.
Let us hear you share with us other ways in which we can prevent the spread of negative emotions in your relationships.
