Give words!!

Language and words may be the greatest gifts we can offer ourselves.

At 28, I find myself torn between gratitude for discovering this insight relatively early and a quiet regret that it took so long—because I know my childhood and adolescence could have been much different had I used the right language to name my emotions.

This realization stands as one of my most necessary lessons, one I am deeply grateful to have learned from my mentors. I was raised in a household, much like many Indian families, where processing emotions was not a thing (though thankfully, that is gradually changing).

Yet, by grace, I have been guided to essential lessons, and among the most important is the power of naming my emotions. This simple act has been life-changing. We, as humans, feel a sea of emotions. It could be a long, long list—curiosity, awe, wonder, exhaustion, resentment, and so on—but most of the time, we tend to put them into just two or three buckets.

It’s either “I’m happy,” “I’m sad,” or “I’m mad.”  That’s all!

But we are more than those three emotions. We experience more in our bodies, yet we say less. more often than not, I don’t need solutions to the challenges I face. Merely articulating the precise emotion I am experiencing grants me control over it. We all harbor a complex inner world, and without the vocabulary to express it, we resemble infants—overwhelmed with emotions, unable to name them, lashing out in frustration or pain without understanding or being understood, even after decades of learning to speak. But when we recognize that we can label our emotions, language lends clarity to our inner experiences—and nothing else compares.

These days, my practice is to identify and name each emotion before seeking solutions.The ability to pinpoint the exact feeling is transformative. Instead of vague statements like “I feel bad” or “I’m upset,” I can say, “I am anxious about tomorrow’s meeting.” Saying “I am anxious” brings clarity. It reveals underlying worries about the outcome, sadness over the lack of control, and fear stemming from uncertainty.

I envision words as the tool that untangles a knotted ball of thread inside our heads, straightening it out to make the weaving of life’s fabric smoother and more manageable.

Often, the first step toward resolving any difficulty is simply articulating what lies within—and only then can one begin to chart a course forward.

Here's a list of emotions to help you understand better.

Elated – Intensely happy, uplifted beyond ordinary joy.

Grateful – Deep appreciation for kindness, life, or circumstance.

Serene – Calm, untroubled, and emotionally steady.

Hopeful – Expecting positive outcomes despite uncertainty.

Awe – Overwhelmed admiration mixed with reverence for something vast or extraordinary.

Wonder – Amazed admiration, often sparking openness and exploration.

Curiosity – Strong desire to learn, discover, or understand.

Melancholy – A quiet, lingering sadness.

Exasperated – Extremely irritated or fed up.

Vulnerable – Open and exposed emotionally, easily hurt