Families and individuals often struggle to find words which describe what they are feeling. Many find themselves referring back to mad, sad and happy, especially if the parents were never allowed to express feelings in their childhood homes. One of the cornerstones of successful families is mutual respect. Mutual respect is formed when there is honest communication and understanding between members in a relationship.

There are varying degrees of all emotions. By evaluating and giving names to our feelings, the other people involved can more clearly understand how to deal with us.

Don’t Just Say Mad, Sad or Glad,

Here are a list of feeling words and expressions that can be used to more accurately describe what is going on in your heart, mind and body

Words and phrases which reflect feeling upset:

Unhappy, disappointed, distressed, disappointed, disturbed, saddened, troubled, offended, displeased, mourning, grieving, mixed up, out of balance, disorganized, dismayed, wounded, troubled, weepy, letdown, confused, out of synch, inner turmoil, shook up, lonely, afraid, worried, concerned,

Words and phrases which reflect happy feelings:

Pleased, full of joy, giggly, pleasure, satisfied, contented, grateful, hopeful, enthusiastic, cheerful, optimistic, in high spirits, blissful, exultant, cheerful, on cloud nine, lucky, blessed, fortunate, delighted, thankful, relieved.

Can You Think of Other Feeling Words?

I bet you can think of hundreds of other ways to express and name your emotions. Teach your children to recognize the different degrees of a feeling and to name accurately, as much as possible, how they feel.

Communication is verbal and nonverbal.

Verbal communication is the language of information and is only retained and understood 20% of the time. Nonverbal communication is the language of relationships and is retained and understood 80% of the time.

Examine and explain your true feelings and you will see that your relationships improve.

I would like to invite you to go to http://www.UseEncouragingWords.com for a free eBook on the power of our words and actions. This is a free resource for your family as is the weekly Thursday Teleclasses and radio shows on family relationship issues.

http://www.ArtichokePress.com is the home site of Judy H. Wright, family relationship coach and author. If your organization would like to schedule Auntie Artichoke, the storytelling trainer, for a workshop please call 406.549.9813.