“Nothing is so contagious as an example. We never do great good or great evil without bringing about more of the same on the part of others.”

~ La Rochefoucauld

You’ve had a crappy day. You come home and yell at your spouse for something you know is irrational. She or he snaps at your kids. The kids get annoyed with the dog.

Too cliche?

Maybe, but it’s true.

We need to own our feelings. Emotions are a necessary part of life. They aren’t right or wrong, they just are.

What we can’t do is allow our negative emotions to infect others like cancer. It’s okay to be angry. It’s not okay to express that anger in a way that hurts someone else. It’s awesome to feel joy. Feel free to express that to others — unless joy isn’t where they are in that moment.

Emotions are tricky. Navigating when and where to express them so that others benefit rather than get hurt by them is even trickier.