Today I talked to a friend about correctly identifying emotions and how it can positively impact your…well…sanity. Things like “anger” aren’t really emotions, but rather the result of underlying emotions.

For three months, I’ve been trying to come to terms with how I feel about having to leave Namibia due to a security threat. Anger was the quick emotion that came to mind, but now I can finally identify some others:

Misunderstood. Ignored. Rejected. Forgotten. Abandoned. Jilted. Manipulated. Exploited.

Notice that threatened and afraid don’t come close to making the cut.

I miss being in the Peace Corps and my friends and colleagues in Namibia every day. Anger isn’t going to get me back to Nau-Aib Primary School, nor will it fulfill my dreams of Pope John Paul II intervening on my behalf to get my service reinstated (thanks for that one, mefloquine). Identifying my emotions won’t either, but it’s another step closer to being fully happy again in America.

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