As we grow older, our world grows. Bit by bit (and all the time) we are getting closer to taking the step into what is still unknown to us. Hopefully with a good baggage that includes both knowledge of, feeling for and ability to express our feelings.
Our emotional self-regulation, i.e. the ability to manage our emotions in various unexpected, unique situations and in relationships with others in a socially accepted way is a process that, like most things, works best when it is allowed to grow from a stable foundation - a safe harbor where emotions have been allowed. To feel the feeling but not necessarily act on it directly - the ability to make the complex trade-offs required for different situations does not come until the age of 12. Feelings come, they exist! But how should I act on them?
Is talking about feelings part of your everyday life? It's never too late to make room for it and give the children and teenagers some better tools and (adult) guidance to take with them into life. (And maybe that's actually the most important knowledge you can give them?)
Thank you dearest Ida for wise thoughts about my little text.
