A lot of times it comes down to what you can do at the time. If you are going to understand your feelings and validate them, you will have to sit with them, let them be, and explore them. Sometimes it isn't a good time to do that right now because it is too overwhelming or because you need to be doing something else. At those times, you may need to put the feeling in a box or on a shelf so that you can function in the moment. When you put a feeling away like that, it is healthy to validate it - just tell yourself that you are aware of how you are feeling and it is okay - there is a reason for it, and you will come back to it. Coming back to it is important, because otherwise it all piles up and all those feelings can drown you or explode at just the wrong time, when the box gets too full.

Besides, we need our feelings to be whole. Imagine what it would be like if there were no feelings! Nobody would ever care about anything. I wouldn't want to live in that world. Emotions give our lives meaning, and help us to understand ourselves and others and know how to relate to each other. They motivate us. They help other people to understand us and our needs. Even though they are confusing, they are important.