The Right To Be Upset

The people around us and the circumstances we face can make us feel upset, angry, frustrated, depressed, annoyed and any other possible negative emotion humans can experience.

And when we experience these emotions we tend to latch on to them.

Why?

Because we believe we’re entitled to experience them.

We have every reason to experience them.

We have the right to experience them.

If you ever thought you had the right to be upset or angry or depressed, then you know what I’m talking about.

But rather than holding on to your right to be upset, ask yourself the following question:

“Do I deserve to be upset?”

If you don’t (and you don’t), then you shouldn’t insist on being upset.

Sure, someone you know might have done something to hurt you, but do you need to continue hurting yourself? Do you deserve to subject yourself to such hurt?

Rights are intended to lift us up rather than pull us down. When they end up pulling us down, we can choose to abandon them. We have the right to a miserable life and the right to be ignorant and the right to be poor. But it doesn’t mean that we need to exercise these rights.

The same principle applies to our emotions. While we may have the right to be upset, we shouldn’t exercise that right when it damages our lives. We don’t deserve to be upset and to linger in that feeling.

I sometimes find myself latching on to feelings of anger and frustration, but then realize that I can’t afford to waste my emotional energy on such feelings, and to compromise the opportunity to be happy. I realize that the negative feelings I’m experiencing are within my control and I can let go of them as soon as I let go of the idea that I have the right to experience them.

Don’t insist on upholding your right to be upset. You don’t deserve it.