Expressing feelings

I had a friend that exaggerated every time I expressed an emotion to him. I let go of him as a friend because I felt he didn't respect my feelings. I see nothing wrong with expressing missing my dog or being a bit annoyed by something someone does. Does anyone else feel misunderstood when expressing their feelings?

I have and that's why I tend to be very brief and by far play down and try not to show emotions publically at all. But I have run the risk of appearing unsensitive and a bit cold. It has been some work but I am gradually tryng to take down some of the armour I've been putting up.

Does trust play into this for you LucyD?

Because of how someone reacted to my expression of emotions trust does figure into it now. I am afraid to express them now.

I more or less have stopped expressing my feelings to the closest people to me, my family.
I go to a councilor but it not the same. I have this feeling that my family would rather think I'm crazy and put the subject on the back burner than have compassion for me. I love them but I feel distance from hem.

i tend to gravitate towards people that know how to express their feelings more openly than others. this is so i won't have to show them myself and i get some sort of positive validation about mine.i have very low self esteem and keep my mouth shut until someone steps in first and then i'll give my 2cents. maybe this is wrong but i'm too scared my opinion won't be taken seriously.i'm a big baby.

Keep expressing your feelings, and do not let others control you.

All I'd like is people that say they care about to me listen to how I feel and just acknowledge what I'm feeling

I feel misunderstood all the time.

Lucy, I love people who freely express their feelings. Expressing things like joy or sadness is beautiful. Its ok to be frustrated or angry too if you don't take it out on everyone. You should be able to tell your friend you are angry sometimes. It's wonderful to be open and sensitive to the world and other people.

I've found that if someone always rejects my feelings or thoughts that they aren't a good friend for me. They may be a nice person, but friends have to accept each other.

Sometimes though you have to think about your friends feelings. If they like you and accept you, but just don't like it when you say certain things, it's ok not to talk about that when you are them. The thing is that you have to feel like they accept you anyhow, and you have to feel comfortable being yourself around them.

It is ironic how all of us need to vent from time to time, yet not one is willing to listen to venting.

If you feel someone is unwilling to listen to you, find someone else who is. Do you have someone else?

Yes, I do know what you mean. When I am at my family's I often am just very quiet. They don't mention my mental illness yet talk openly about my one brother having a physical disability. It really hurts at times when I think about it. I try not to think about it much, though.

I don't think you are a big baby. You are showing good common sense. I like to talk to those who will express their feelings, too. Thank you.

Well, that's easier said than done really. But I will try to express my feelings to those that I am really interested in persuing a relationship with if they do the same.

That's all I want too. I don't want to be made out to be unreasonable just because I express feelings. One guy did that to me and I told him there was nothing wrong with expressing feelings.

I do think about my friends feelings. But if a so called friend cannot accept me saying something like I am angry or annoyed about something then I have a problem with them. Because they are the ones with the problem of not being able to accept anger in another. I'd rather be around people who express how they feel.

try not to worry about what people think of you its hard but it takes time to overcome.

So much bottled up inside. Need a safe place to express yourself. My immediate family and even close friends don't always feel safe. My counselor is fairly safe but no one listed perfectly.

I have been expressing my feelings ever since I learned to in counseling many years ago, last century. There are many people out there that don't see expressing feelings as good and even think people are incompetent who do. It isn't true just because they act that way, though.

Yes, I know I have had a lot of bottled up feelings. I found good ways to let a lot of them out like taking a drive and screaming several times, beating the heck out of my couch and pillow and crying me a river, too. I have let out a lot of those feelings that were bottled but now I'm not bottled up any more and it feels good to just say how I feel. I feel safe expressing how I feel to you.