How Do You Feel?
How do you feel at this very moment? Happy?
Sad? Angry? Scared? Lots of things in your life
can set off your emotions. Sometimes you will
feel good . . . sometimes not so good. But all
those feelings—the good, the sad, and the
all-around bad—are normal. And chances are,
even the happiest girl you know is sorting out
her own confusing knot of emotions. So hold
on and hang in there, and we’ll help you figure
this feelings thing out.
What Are Feelings?
“I feel great!” “I feel mad.” “I feel scared!” Just what are
these oceans of emotions washing over you these days?
Emotions are reactions you have to things that happen
around you, and you use “feeling” words to describe them.
Because the events you react to are constantly changing, it’s
natural that your emotions would change, too! (That’s why
the word “emotion” has the word “motion” built right into it.)
You can be soaring to the top of the world one minute and
feel stuck in the mud the next. Sometimes you may not even
be sure how you feel at all.
The better you become at identifying your feelings, the more
you’ll learn about yourself. People often use the words on the
following page to describe their feelings. Make note of any
feelings you remember having in the last week.
Some days I feel happy one minute and like crying
the next. I continually get mad when people ask me
about my day, and I often blow up at my mom. What
is happening? Why do I do this?
Confused
Your Mood-O-Meters
Each feeling you have can be strong, mild, or somewhere
in between. For each situation, write down where on the
mood-o-meter your feelings would register. If you have
feelings that aren’t listed here, create a new mood-o-
meter.
1.
You’re doing homework
on the computer and you
accidentally delete your
whole file. You feel
“I’m boiling
over!”
“I feel
trouble
bubbling up.”
“How
annoying!”
“Do we have
another box
of tissues?”
“A single tear
trickles down
my cheek . . .”
“I ’m a little
disappointed.”
“I ’m totally
terrified!”
“My stomach
is in knots.”
“This makes me
uncomfortable.”
Afraid
Sad
Angry
2.
Mom announces that
your family will be
spending the entire
summer at the beach.
You feel
“Look out, ocean,
here I come! ”
“I’m getting
excited . . . ”
“I’m oh-
satisfied. ”
“N-O. I won’t
go! N-O. I won’t
go! ”
“Argh! I told my
friends I’d sign
up for summer
soccer! ”
“But I won’t know
anyone there. ”
“I’d call this
‘super-sob
sad.’ ”
“I’m getting
teary! ”
“But I’ll miss my
room at home. ”
Sad
Angry
Happy