12/15/2025
If you’ve ever felt like you should “just say how you feel,” you’re not alone — but saying how you feel doesn’t always make things better. Depending on how, when, and why you say them, sometimes it makes things worse.
Your feelings are always valid. They’re yours. But how you share them can come across as blame:
“When you do X, I feel Y.”
That may be true — but a different person might not feel the same way in the same situation. Our feelings are unique to us. That’s why it’s important to take responsibility for your emotions rather than stating them like a verdict.
Before sharing, ask yourself: What am I hoping to accomplish?
If you want to create change, what if you skip the emotional buildup and go straight to the request? You don’t have to say, “I’m hungry” to say, “Can we make dinner?”
However, if what you want is for your feelings to be ACKNOWLEDGED, it often helps to come right out and say so. “Can you please just understand how I feel?”
Sharing feelings with the goal to unload them is venting — and while that can feel good, it may weigh others down.
So while it’s important to not bottle up feelings, it’s also important to not share them without some sort of intention. Share them on purpose — with clarity about what you want to come from it.
If you want to learn how to express emotions in ways that bring people closer together, visit me at NaturalRelationships.com.