10 Ways to know you’re emotionally healthy
It can be hard to gauge how you are doing mentally and emotionally. Often, we don’t really know how another person is feeling on a day-to-day basis, so it is difficult to try and understand just how emotionally healthy we are. If you find yourself pondering this same question, take a look at the following 10 signs of emotional wellness.
1. You like yourself. Having a good self-image is key. Liking who you are is not about being arrogant or cocky; instead, it’s about being okay with your strengths, weaknesses, and general personality. It also means being genuine about who you are when interacting with the world.
2. You treat others well. When you’re genuine with yourself, it allows you to be genuine with other people, which is a big part of treating people with decency and compassion. Being sensitive to other people’s wants and needs, even if they are strangers, means you’re in a good place mentally.
3. You are flexible. The ability to adapt to different situations and grow along with them is a big indicator of how emotionally healthy you are. People who are emotionally flexible approach life with curiosity and openness, and with a willingness to change course if the current strategy isn’t working.
4. You show appreciation and practice gratitude. If you can easily feel and show thankfulness towards your loved ones and all you have, you’re likely to feel good about life. This can help your relationships to grow and to create a loving environment where you and others can thrive. Focusing on the things you do have rather than on the things you don’t is key.
5. You know how to fight negative feelings. Everyone experiences negativity or defeated thoughts and feelings now and again, and if you let it get out of hand, it can have an impact on your relationships and other areas of your life. If you know how to curb the loop of negative thoughts, you’ll find your emotional health improving.
6. You are in touch with your emotions. This means acknowledging when you’re sad or angry, and understanding how to deal with it in order to get back to feeling “normal.” Refusing to feel these emotions when they come about isn’t healthy, so taking the time to be present in them is something you should do.
7. You take care of yourself. Eating right, exercising, getting plenty of sleep, and knowing your limits are all ways of expressing that you value who you are.
8. You’re resilient. Life is not perfect for anyone. But being able to adapt when facing adversity, loss, and other traumatic situations is a major part of emotional health. Those who are resilient find lessons of growth in negative situations and learn from them.
9. You stay active. Challenging yourself to new experiences and setting goals for self-improvement are big parts of living life to its fullest. Having the desire to do so is a good indicator that you are in a good place mentally.
10. You maintain a sense of positivity. Even when the going gets tough, staying upbeat and finding the bright side of things means you are in good shape to bounce back from anything life may throw at you.
7 Signs of Emotional Wellness [Huffington Post]
7 Habits of Highly Emotionally Healthy People [Psychology Today]
15 Things Emotionally Healthy People Do [Lifehack]