The Work of Understanding Our Emotions
We spend years learning how to think, analyze, perform, and succeed.
Yet when it comes to understanding our emotions, many of us seem to be perpetually making up for a class we somehow missed.
Stepping out of our comfort zone, taking a different step, and trying something new often triggers a range of emotions, fluctuating between excitement and calm, or apprehension and fear. In life, there are certainly moments when we quickly adapt to change, perhaps with a stronger determination. However, it’s worth pausing to contemplate how easily and willingly we invite the concept of change into our lives.
I have long seen life as a journey of experience and growth.
Some of us move through it without much reflection.
Some of us question, observe, and try to make sense of what happens.
And some of us are aware that something feels misaligned—but postpone the inner work because avoidance feels easier in the moment.
I first encountered the concept of coaching in 2008.
At the time, I was working as an HR manager, and across industries there was a growing conversation: leaders needed to move beyond traditional management approaches and develop coaching skills.
There used to be a lifestyle that was very trendy for a while; “Hygge.” Its books have been translated into Turkish, articles have been written about it, and it has become the recipe for answering the question “How to be happy?” I have greatly enjoyed making many elements of this philosophy a part of my life (even if I haven’t defined them under this title) and wanted to incorporate some of them into my life even more.
For a long time, the word polarity meant opposition to me.
A sense of conflict.
A forced choice between two sides.
And often, the tension of feeling that whatever I chose, I would be denying the other.
In my mid-thirties, as I began reflecting more deeply on myself, I started to see something different.
