We can try to push and cram all our emotional belongings into a suitcase in our minds, but sooner or later, that suitcase is going to burst open, spilling all our emotional garbage everywhere. Sherrie manages multiple mental illnesses, including anxiety disorder, bipolar disorder, and PTSD. Emotional baggage may stem from a betrayal in a previous romantic relationship. Ugh. And I share tips for how to work with your insomnia here. Sherrie Hurd is a professional writer and artist with over 20 years of experience. And I think that is the essential thing everybody should do who is having emotional baggage. But there are some common issues – and feelings surrounding them – that arise, says Ward. I pushed it away for a while, but eventually I knew I had to address all my pent up emotions about it. Reasons to Release and Let Go! Actually, he even might act better than any man you’ve met before him. For instance, release and let go when your fears are getting the better of you. In fact, a lot of people avoid it. If a relationship is ruining your mental health, get out. I have many traumatic situations from my past that invade my dreams most every night. I am working on mine. It’s just a complete mess and something that’s best eliminated or controlled. Find someone who loves you enough to help you unpack. But ever since I have, my life has changed! You can’t make a relationship work with a man who has emotional baggage. Now, this doesn’t mean the other party doesn’t have the baggage of their own. If you’re looking for ways to process your emotions, I share 50 questions that will help you do that here. If not their bad behavior, such as lying, will rub off on you. There are many ways to unpack those suitcases and backpacks, but if you don’t you will carry them with you forever. © Learning Mind 2012-2021 | All Rights Reserved |, 7 Signs Your Emotional Baggage Is Keeping You Stuck and How to Move On, Online Disinhibition Effect Explains Why Some People Become Jerks Online, The Feynman Technique and How to Use It to Learn and Understand Anything, 8 Signs the Power of Subconscious Mind Is Changing Your Life. If left unresolved, these pent up emotional issues can be detrimental to your physical, emotional and mental health. Sometimes it can be two people hashing through unhealthy pasts. If you're carrying negative emotional memories from your past then you have emotional baggage. If you’ve had any outbursts lately, then check to see if you have a bit of baggage left unchecked. Not all mental disorders are genetic. If this is something you’re experiencing, I’m so … Do you ever feel like you’d be happier or freer if that certain someone wasn’t in your life? Emotional Baggage Check: As a sensitive person, a regular emotional baggage check is a good idea. Untreated victims of any kind of abuse are often emotionally unstable and harbor lots of inner pain, which manifests itself in their romantic lives. Sometimes really bad things happen in the past to people. But once I did, I was clear to start dating people who made me feel special. Each adult person has different types of emotional baggage. If you have been lied to and/or cheated on, you may have a fear of deception. You can have an otherwise healthy relationship, but it can be quickly tainted by things from the past. Instead, he will act like any other guy. If you’re repeating bad marriages or relationships, then maybe you’re carrying your baggage from one relationship to the other. If this is something you’re experiencing, I’m so sorry. We give you some of the signs that may indicate that the girl you are dating has emotional baggage. 6 Signs Emotional Baggage Is Sabotaging Your Relationships. Release and let go when you’re consistently making … And I’ve experienced tons of benefits, and the quality of my relationships with other people and myself has improved dramatically. Learning Mind has over 50,000 email subscribers and more than 1,5 million followers on social media. With this background and personal experience, she strives to help others overcome trauma and abuse, cope with mental illness, and heal over time. Yes, get help, and soon. And yes, it’s taken me years to get through that one. Here they are! Emotions passed from one experience to the other can kill passions that you used to have inside. If you’re not facing the past, you are dragging huge trunks of emotional belongings. It is important to trust your partner if you have agreed to date them. You can end up carrying all types of emotional baggage, especially other people’s baggage if you are not careful! And if you never took the time to deal with it, the old emotions surrounding it can hold you back. Well, grab those and learn what went wrong. This could put two of your values at war with each other: your need for survival (money) and your need to have moral integrity. Unfortunately, I know way too many people who hop from one relationship to the next, looking for better. Learning Mind does not provide medical, psychological, or any other type of professional advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Say there were two bad relationships, look at one, and objectively remember where the fights, disagreements, and divisions started. She has a number of pre-conceived notions. As a survivor of childhood trauma and multiple types of abuse, she is an advocate for mental health awareness. You expect the worst in most situations and push others away from you in order to avoid being hurt again. The symptoms of emotional baggage Being unable to let go of sadness; crying for no apparent reason. Perhaps you’ve moved cities, changed careers, tried dating new types of people and you STILL don’t have the life you want. If you find yourself never getting where you want to go, it might be time to look at your baggage. Most of the time, where relationships are concerned, it’s wise to stay alone for a few years between. Feeling insecure – If you are feeling insecure for nothing, then this is a sign of emotional baggage. You’re not living your potential. You would start yelling at someone after holding in your feelings for too long, or you could even get into a fight. However, it’s a big indicator that your emotional baggage is not letting you move on if you’re continually dating or associating with the same types of people. That is unless your family is the source of some kind of abuse, in which that baggage now has to be forgiven. When you first meet a damaged guy who carries a lot of emotional baggage within himself, you will have no idea about everything he’s been through. Are you having trouble sleeping? As someone who suppressed my emotions for most of my life, I know exactly what it feels like to have emotional baggage. So many of us carry emotional baggage … I’m here to help you unlock the superpower of your emotions. Here are six signs that the guy you’re dating can’t seem to shake his emotional past, and maybe it’s just not meant to be. Carrying your issues from one relationship to the next hurts you and your partner. 50 questions that will help you do that here. ... where it sits accumulating emotional dust. Sometimes adults are survivors of war, automobile accidents, or other trauma. These benefits are similar to the ones you’ll have when you discard your emotional baggage: you’ll feel free, lighthearted, and make the statement that … 7 Signs Your Emotional Baggage Is Keeping You Stuck and How to Move On Sherrie Hurd. If the new partner is indeed doing the same thing, you can expect they will blame your emotional baggage for your complaints about them. 1. And if you want tips to work with the physical side of insomnia, I have an article about that here. Releasing and letting go when facing difficulties certainly ain’t easy. If it’s just about old disagreements, you have to face each other and find a compromise. Imagine reading a book with a few pages of a chapter missing. It is better to accept that bad things happen and instead of wallowing in the past bad experience we need to let it go and move on. It can be called deflecting in a way. And if you are, then maybe it’s because of unresolved conflicts and trauma. So today I want to share 5 signs your emotional baggage is holding you back. However, it’s a big indicator that your emotional baggage is not letting you move on if you’re continually dating or associating with the same types of people. It put me on a positive trajectory of getting to know myself and letting go of my baggage. If you don’t feel like doing the things you used to love, then that’s a sign you’re carrying the past into the present, and you’re also stuck in that pattern, maybe even stuck with someone that doesn’t make you happy. Here are some hints to recognizing it. And for goodness sake, never stay for the kids. Insomnia is frustrating! One of the things that really held me back was codependency with my parents. If you’re taking a perfectly healthy union and basing it on all your damaged or broken unions of the past, then you are carrying baggage filled with old emotional content. Feeling angry much of the time. You’ll be lighter and happier once you do. After a while I got so sick of it and wanted to change things. 7 Signs Your Emotional Baggage Is Eroding Your Current Relationship 1. It’s literally zero fun to think about your baggage. And no, we're not projecting. BUT, sometimes, the next partner does the same things as the one before. If you constantly feel like life just isn’t the way you want it to be, chances are that you’ve got issues that are blocking you. Emotional baggage is as unique to each person as the suitcase they pack it in. To share a very personal example, my dad went to prison when I was 17 years old. Negative emotions from your past don't have to control your life. Look for these 8 Signs Your Partner Has Too Much Emotional Baggage For A Relationship: He Sends You Mixed Signals; A man who is interested in a relationship with you will pursue you for a relationship. Until I get all this stuff cleaned out, my nights will continue to be inconsistent. People with emotional baggage often engage in destructive behaviors. Learn how not to repeat the same patterns. But once you do, you’ll uncover what could be weighing you down so you can live the life you want. So many of us carry emotional baggage from somewhere. I’ve noticed that the first thing people want to do is forget about what happened, and this is the opposite of what they should be doing. Another sign your emotional baggage is weighing you down is that you haven’t slept well for months or maybe years. At the base of sleeplessness, there are usually two parts of yourself that are in conflict with each other. I have just discarded most of my baggage. Like I said in the beginning, dealing with your baggage isn’t the most fun thing to do. As adults, emotional baggage probably can have the biggest effect on our romantic relationships. Do you have unhealthy past relationships rolled into the corner of the suitcase trying to hide and be forgotten? Your tendency is to react negatively by withdrawing, feeling hopeless or behaving angrily. Toxic relationships can come in all kinds of forms. Here are six clear signs you might have emotional baggage and it might be sabotaging your love life: There may be something that is an absolute no-no for her. It shows in the way we speak, our actions, and even our expressions. Seek support and gu… Sometimes I feel okay in the morning, but sometimes I feel as though I’ve been run over by a truck. By continuing to use this website, you consent to the use of cookies in accordance with our Cookie Policy. Sometimes it feels like no matter what you try, you can never get your life to be what you want. Learning Mind is a blog created by Anna LeMind, B.A., with the purpose to give you food for thought and solutions for understanding yourself and living a more meaningful life. It is important for you to find a sense of hope and a willingness to heal from whatever in your past is troubling you. Nothing brings out our worst demons than being vulnerable in love. Emotional baggage grows and grows the more trauma you ignore and the longer you keep it buried. Here are 10 signs of suppressed emotions: ... Another method is to put your feelings down on paper that will enable you to start unloading your emotional baggage. So, if you’re aware of some past baggage you never worked through, what are you waiting for? I went to a self-actualization program with a couple of friends. For example, if you love to garden, cook, play the piano, or other fulfilling things, your emotional baggage will leave you with no interest in these things anymore. Everyone has emotional baggage. Emotional baggage can keep us stuck in unhealthy patterns of behaviors, such as being friends with people who do not make us feel good or who are a bad influence on us. You can try and try, but it will feel like trying to get blood from a stone. Everyone needs to know these things because people who use your pain from the past to hurt you again should be weeded out, confronted, and if they cannot stop, should be left with their own toxicity. Let’s face it: We’ve all had the oh-so-delightful experience of dating someone who had too much emotional baggage. You take your past out on others—for example, irrationally treating someone like crap because they remind you of someone who hurt you. So, one of the ways I’ve gotten happier and healthier is by working on my personal issues. You may show signs of being overly suspicious of others and guarded. Unfortunately, it’s often not until you’re knee-deep in a relationship that you realize just how much baggage he or she has. Sometimes adults are survivors of childhood abuse or neglect. Emotional baggage can really weigh you down. Your perfect girlfriend, the one you've been waiting all this time for, may be carrying around some extra emotional baggage. But once you work through it, you’ll feel so much better. He constantly compares you to his ex If he’s incapable of seeing your relationship as new and separate from the others, it’s clear his baggage … This is where it gets complicated. ‘My Life Is Going Nowhere’: What to Do If You Feel This Way. What are some of your signals that you have an issue to work on? Whether it’s the fact that you’ve been divorced several times, or you’re having problems connecting with the right people. Am I right? I just thought I would let you know that. You project your insecurities. And after that, I felt amazing. Emotional baggage can make it difficult to connect with romantic partners. Nothing felt right and I was hopeless no matter what I tried. So, if you find yourself having more rough nights than good nights, it might be time to look closer at your issues. Emotional Baggage is a metaphor that refers to our negative, unprocessed, unresolved and unexpressed feelings and emotions from our past experiences. A strong emotional bond is an essential pillar of a healthy relationship. Maybe you’ve been in a marriage for 20 years, enduring unhappiness for the sake of your children. One of the signs that you have some issues to address is that you keep experiencing the same things over and over again. Effects of Emotional Baggage Emotional distance. While I knew it negatively affected me, I was afraid to address the issue on a deeper level. Yep, at times it feels like someone specific is stopping us from having what we want. The whole point of all this is to understand how to move past our emotional baggage. And there’s a reason your brain is keeping you awake. And, no matter how old you are, you don’t want to have these things still sitting by your bedside at the end of your life. And guess what? And I’ve been there. If you happen to have a good partner, this is not fair to them. If you follow the advice of best-selling author and dating coach Gregg Michaelsen , you know you are a woman of value who can have her pick of men. Sometimes emotional baggage can cost a lot of mental energy. Tell me in the comments! Literally. Do you have some childhood abuse folded up in there, maybe a whole stack of it? Here are five signs you have emotional baggage and how carrying it over into your relationship may end in a breakup. Hey there! I hope you unpack your baggage soon. When you just cannot move forward in life, it could be that your unresolved emotional issues are weighing you down. If emotional baggage concerns family relations, you have to continue staying in touch with your family despite what may have happened in the past. So, I put together a list of things I experienced first hand that were red flags that I had some baggage to work through. The baggage we carry with our emotions can spill out so far that it can affect others around us too, adding to their own problems. If he is busy, he will let you know when he has time to speak to you again. However, there are moments when it’s beneficial to step back, to release all attachment, and gain a proper perspective of the situation. If you tend to handle your baggage this way, you may tend to feel anxious, isolated, angry, resentful, depressed and even lonely. No regrets remember. This is all that I own. Everyone comes with baggage. This could be what’s happening to you too. For the most part, staying calm is pretty easy, but if you are carrying emotional baggage, eventually, there will be an outburst of some kind. Simply put, it is trauma, heartache, loss, love, lost friendships, and all other sorts of things. For some reason, we keep ruminating and mulling over these issues, never finding closure or healing. 1- She has unexplained phone conversations You're home from work and she's on the telephone having an emotional jam session with her next of kin. I know this personally because it’s something I struggled with for about 10 years. You can read about how I worked through it here. Then you apply these scars to your present situation. Then unfold it, look at it, and talk to someone about what happened. If not at all times we exhibit some signs in our day today interactions.Some of the emotional baggage. It’s like cramming things in that suitcase we were talking about and not expecting it to pop open eventually. And like it’s been said: the quality of our relationships determines the quality of our lives. 12 Signs of an Emotional Masochist: Is This You? When you carry baggage from place to place, you will … Some of them come from years of being stuck in an unhealthy place. While it’s an ongoing project to work on myself, I’m currently feeling better than I ever have. It was when I took a first look at my baggage that I started finding my own sense of joy. So, what gives? I know, I know. Actions like this can develop depression, anxiety, and other acquired problems. Honestly, I wasn’t even aware that I had issues that were weighing me down. They are things that our minds refuse to release. Did I have deeper reasons that I was dating lukewarm dudes? Here are 6 clear signs you might have emotional baggage and unwittingly sabotaging your love life: 1. These assessments will quiz what you know about emotional baggage in the workplace. Feeling anxious much of the time. The very next guy I met, I happened to end up marrying. For example, there was a point in my life where I felt completely lost. We have to unpack each item and take a close look at it. Absolutely. But once you see you’re on repeat, then you know that you have some underlying things to look at. His or her behavior is very unpredictable. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. I did it for freedom, to be lightweight as I travel the world, and to make a statement to myself that I will always value experiences over possessions.. And they don't have to hold power over you anymore. About This Quiz & Worksheet. How much emotional baggage is too much? 2. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could train yourself to spot emotional baggage sooner so that … While there are red flags telling you that something is wrong, there are also coincidences that make you over-react and drag out old emotional scars. All content published on this website is intended for informational purposes only. It’s not a matter of if you have it but rather what you do with it and how you overcome it. Sometimes, it takes reflecting and introspection to see that you’re repeating the same situation or relationship. If you have unresolved issues, hence the baggage, sooner or later, there will be an outburst of some kind. Your emotional baggage is heavier than most burdens, mostly because they’re unresolved issues in your life. I mean, it’s definitely impossible that EVERY guy on the planet is immature or a cheater or [insert generalization here]. And while you might be aware of your past trauma, it’s not the same as actually working through it. 1. This won’t be a pretty site either. Emotional Baggage implies that one is dealing with residual emotional issues and carrying a lot of hurt, pain, sadness, regret and even anger within. You're the projecting queen. Bullying and rejection are common causes of emotional baggage. For me, I dated guys that had a similar pattern: they showed a lot less interest in me than I showed in them. According to Lisa Concepcion, certified love coach and founder of LoveQuest Coaching, inconsistency is a major sign that your partner's last relationship is holding them back. I moved to 4 different countries, 5 states and I still didn’t feel like I was on track to getting any happier in my life. Closeness: You find it hard or stressful to get close to someone. The death of a loved one, childhood issues and a long list of other things can affect us negatively. Most of the time, they get the same or worse because they haven’t unpacked their baggage yet. If so, maybe you’re having nightmares every night. I do believe that emotional baggage is bad. Otherwise, this will lead to distrust and eventual breakup. For instance, if you keep dating similar types of guys and can’t figure out why. Emotional suppression is the deliberate or pushing away or conscious avoidance of thoughts or feelings to cope with trauma. Another sign your emotional baggage is weighing you down is that you haven’t slept well for months or maybe years. Emotional distance is one of the most glaring signs of emotional baggage in a relationship. Emotional Baggage, we all have it at some point and its perfectly normal. And they leave you with unwanted baggage that can weigh you down. That's all we have for you as far as signs go but know that if your girl displays many or most of these you're dealing with an unpredictable woman and most likely, one with a ton of emotional baggage. With 20 unhappy years under your belt, you have several backpacks full of stuff you need to unpack. So, once I became aware that this was a big piece of emotional baggage I was lugging around, I was able to work on it. For example, if you’re working at a job you love but the company’s ethics don’t match with yours. Oh, how this is such a wrong thing to do. It takes a great amount of discernment to tell the difference between whether you are damaging your relationship by basing it on the past, or if you are experiencing the same abuse as you did in the past. So make sure it truly is emotional baggage you’re dealing with. Here are just some of the ways emotional baggage might be messing with your life (like, right now): 1. When you carry baggage from place to place, you will become weighed down, tired and even hopeless. When you just cannot move forward in life, it could be that your unresolved emotional issues are weighing you down. We worked through a bunch of issues I never knew I had. Yes, your emotions can block you from getting the deep sleep you need. Filed Under: Healing Baggage Tagged With: emotional baggage, emotional health, help yourself, mental health, self connection, self help, self love. Whether you’ve just gotten out of a toxic relationship or need to leave one, make sure to look at the issues surrounding it. It shows up in our relationships, clouding our judgement and getting in the way of us connecting with those we care about. He will call you and set up regular dates. Even if those details aren’t important, you’ll forever feel an uneasiness as if you haven’t made peace with your internal conflicts. Get Your Free Copy of My Emotional Self-Care Guide, Newsletter Contact Shop Terms & Conditions Privacy Policy Disclosure Affiliates, « 4 Signs You’re Trying to be Perfect and How to Stop. Sharing tips + tools for managing emotions + loving yourself profoundly. If your girlfriend has fixed notions about some aspects of the relationship, then it could mean that she has some emotional baggage. And I had to address those reasons. If most of the answers that you chose were the letter “A,” you have a hard time dealing with your emotional burdens.