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Lately, I have been wondering about this and I would really like to hear what other people think. Can another person “make you feel”? Do you agree that someone can make you feel something or do you disagree and believe we are individually responsible for our own feelings? Is it even possible to agree and disagree?
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Hi Cheniece! I love this topic- its a really interesting thing to consider…
I think I’m on the fence about this– my mom always taught me that I was responsible for my feelings and what I do with them (if I wake up in a bad mood, I can choose to have a good day or stay negative and unhappy; if my brother made me angry he wasn’t responsible for ‘ruining my day’, and if I had a negative reaction it was my own responsibility). I definitely agree with this to an extent… you are in control of your actions and feelings (with feelings, to an extent)- and although people may trigger an emotional response in you, it is up to you what you do with that. This gets tricky with some people though. When your brain is still developing, or if you struggle with impulse or other issues affecting your mood, it can be hard to control your emotional response to things. And still, we commonly say things like, “you made my day” or “you make me so happy” and don’t hold any negative connotations with those positive responses, still, when you say “you make me angry” “or you ruined my day” you can be questioned.
I guess I would have to say, I totally agree that people can influence our feelings (if I wake up to a text from a good friend telling me she hates me, it will probably make me feel sad), but our reactions to those emotions are what we are in charge of (so somebody can’t necessarily ruin your day, in my opinion). You didn’t make me DO but you made me FEEL.
What a great question!!
I guess I believe and agree with the statement that someone can’t make you DO, but they can make you FEEL. So interesting to think about for sure.
Cheniece,
This is a very interesting question to consider. I think that another person can have some impact on how you feel with their actions, words, etc., but at the end of the day it’s up to each individual person to absorb what everyone else says or does to them to a certain extent or not. I feel like a lot of it also has to do with who the person is being “persuaded or influenced” by, because I know that in my life, for example, I am more likely to let something my mother or best friend stick with me than something a stranger says to me randomly.