life preserver that I was unable to see or even consider until I accepted my situation as it was Our emotions provide valuable information and guidance They tell us what we want out of life what we want how we feel about the people we are close to and what we need to work on within ourselves Acceptance allows us to play the game of life with the full deck of cards Go Deeper Understanding What We Learned Early On Most of us learn how to cope with our feelings while growing up We model ourselves based on what our parents did what they told us about how to handle negative feelings or how they interacted with us when we were upset These messages can play out over a lifetime and go unchallenged For example Juan a client I worked with came to see that whenever he was upset his parents told him he was fine and not to worry Although well meant this only increased his upset because he had no outlet to talk through what was bothering him so he could problem solve the situation and find true relief Take some time to think through what may be