This first step to handling anything is to acknowledge what is happening. Looking at any crisis from the perspective of “you cannot change or heal what you don’t acknowledge”, will help in the midst of crisis. At times and depending on the crisis, it may be difficult to understand what needs to be changed or healed, that is why some outside help is important to set yourself in a healthy direction with decisions.

If you are anything like me, it may be difficult to even get to a place where you can pinpoint what you are feeling. Looking at feelings as colors has been a helpful step for me. Feelings are like different colors, some are red, blue, green, yellow, orange, black. They are not right or wrong. They do not determine who you are. They are just a byproduct of the situation at hand.

Men usually have a hard time with expressing what feelings they are feeling. Women on the other hand have an easier time with the expression of feelings. Women have four times as many brain cells (neurons) connecting the right and left side of their brain. This finding provides physical evidence that supports the observation that men rely easily and more heavily on their left brain to solve one problem one step at a time. Women have more efficient access to both sides of their brain and therefore greater use of their right brain. Women can focus on more than one problem at one time and frequently prefer to solve problems through multiple activities at a time.

So what are you feeling during the crisis at hand? Are your feelings controlling you? Allow yourself to express what is going on with you right now. Remember, there are no right or wrong feelings; anything goes, just allow yourself to express what is going on with you.