The Feelings Wheel

Lisa and I recently had to put down our family cat after 18 years of coexistence. I say “coexistence” because there certainly were times the cat felt more like an intruder than a family member. But at the end of the day, when I took her in for the procedure, I found myself weeping.

Of course, I was sad. But I was also a little ashamed by the negative things I said (even recently) about her. I felt grief for my daughter, who was the original owner of the cat, knowing I would have to tell her what happened. And, I felt a little empty knowing her presence would no longer be in our home.

You see, emotions are anything but simple.

I used a free tool called The Feelings Wheel to start with that root emotion of sadness. From there, I was able to actually put a name on the complexity of the other emotions I was feeling but couldn’t quite explain until I saw the words.

Our emotions give us so much power. Naming them can help us deal with them so that peace and joy are much more within reach.

I encourage you to use it today with something you are feeling to decode what else might be happening with the story you are telling yourself.