The Truth Behind Feelings: Why Numbing Our Emotions Delays Our Growth

We’ve all heard the phrases: “Just stay strong.” “Push through.” “Don’t let it get to you.”But what if the very thing we’re trying to avoid our emotions is the key to our healing, clarity, and growth? In this blog, let’s explore why feeling your emotions is not weakness but wisdom and how running from them only stretches the lesson life is trying to teach you.

I used to pride myself on how well I could hold everything together. I smiled when I was hurting. I kept busy when I was breaking. I convinced myself that “feeling too much” was a weakness, that moving on quickly meant I was strong. But the truth? I wasn’t healing I was hiding.

1. Emotions Are Messengers, Not Enemies

I didn’t understand this for a long time. I saw sadness as a threat, anger as something to fear, and vulnerability as something I couldn’t afford. But I’ve come to realize that emotions aren’t here to destroy us. They’re here to guide us.

• Sadness told me I needed to grieve the parts of me I ignored.

• Anger showed me where I was betraying myself to keep others comfortable.

• Loneliness revealed how far I had drifted from my own self-worth.

Once I stopped resisting, I started understanding.

2. The Cost of Numbing: Distractions Don’t Heal, They Delay

My go-to coping mechanism was staying busy overworking, overthinking, over-giving. Anything to stay distracted. I’d binge shows, scroll for hours, or dive into someone else’s life just to avoid sitting with my own.

But you can only outrun your emotions for so long. They always catch up usually at the most inconvenient times. And when they do, they feel heavier than ever.

The truth is: distractions don’t heal. They delay. And the more you delay, the deeper the ache becomes.

3. Lessons in Disguise: Emotions Reveal What Needs Changing

Eventually, I had to ask myself: Why do the same things keep happening to me?

And the answer was hard to swallow because I was ignoring the lessons. Every time I ran from pain, I repeated the same cycles. Different situations. Same emotional wounds. Until I got still enough to listen, I couldn’t grow.

That heartbreak? It taught me where I was abandoning myself. That anxiety? It was showing me I wasn’t living in alignment. That silence? It invited me to hear my own voice again.

When you feel, you learn. When you avoid, you repeat.

4. Feeling = Healing: Emotional Presence Builds Emotional Maturity

I used to think healing meant not crying anymore. But now I know healing means giving myself permission to cry without shame.

Feeling deeply doesn't make you fragile, it makes you honest. And emotional honesty is what builds emotional strength. Every time I allowed myself to sit in discomfort instead of running, I found more clarity, more softness, more peace.

You don’t need to “get over it.”You need to go through it.

5. Feeling is Not the End.......It’s the Beginning

If you're in a place where you're numbing, avoiding, or distracting yourself I see you. I've been you. But trust me when I say this: you are not weak for feeling. You are wise for choosing to.

Feeling isn’t the end of the story. It's the beginning of your truth. The doorway to your healing. The bridge back to yourself.

Closing Reflection

I wrote this not from a place of perfection but from experience. From the nights I cried myself to sleep, to the mornings I pretended I was fine. From the numbness I thought was strength to the softness I once feared.

If you’re running from your emotions, I gently challenge you to stop. Sit. Breathe. Listen. The version of you that’s hiding is worthy of being heard. And the lesson you’re avoiding is often the one that will set you free.

"What you suppress, you prolong. What you feel, you release."

With heart, honesty, and healing,

A. Sawyer