Reality Check

Have you ever noticed that when you feel stressed out, overwhelmed, sad or any other negative emotion, you find yourself overeating, binge watching TV, scrolling social media or hiding under the covers?

As humans, we feel entitled to feel happiness and pleasure all of the time. We are socialized to believe that if we eat something or buy something or do something we will feel better.

Buffering is when we use external things to change how we feel emotionally. It’s what we do to hide from reality, to procrastinate, to not be present. Some of the ways we buffer are:

• Overeating

• Drinking alcohol

• Scrolling our phone

• Binge watching TV

• Sleeping

We can even use things that seem healthy or productive in unhealthy ways to avoid our feelings. This can look like:

• Busying ourselves

• Overworking

• Excessive exercise

• Overscheduling

Buffers not only provide a false sense of pleasure but they only provide temporary relief from pain. Avoiding emotion doesn’t make the emotion go away. It just helps us not see or feel it for a little while.

The next time you notice yourself wanting to “check out” you can ask yourself, “what am I trying to avoid?” Just getting curious, without judgement, is the first step to making a change.

You’ve got this. I believe in you.

Suzanne

If you could use support in any area of your life, schedule a session with me HERE. If you are curious about how life coaching may benefit you or want to learn more about my coaching style, schedule a FREE 30-minute consultation.