Some take "putting your feelings first" as to meaning wallowing in misery, that's a choice.
Some people interpret "putting your feelings first" as indulging in self-pity and wallowing in misery, making it mean something about themselves and taking it on as an identity. It's important to recognize that prioritizing your emotions doesn't mean dwelling on negative thoughts and dumping negative energy on everyone around you.
What "putting your feelings first" does mean is understand what's triggering all feelings, sit with them, acknowledging and addressing your feelings in a healthy way, allowing yourself to process and move through them in a constructive manner. Not live there for months, years, decades. Not allow them to derail your life and destroy relationships around you slamming doors of opportunity.
We are meant to feel the full spectrum of feelings, feelings ebb and flow, we are all capable of moving in and out of all feelings when we understand how they are created and fueled.
Taking care of your emotional and mental well-being is essential for overall mental health and with a small shift can be seen as a positive and empowering choice. It's about honoring your emotions seeing them for what they are and leaning in to understand them intellectually and fundamentally. Befriending all your feelings and allowing them to come and dissipate with time and practice.
By embracing and processing your emotions, you can learn to navigate through difficult situations with resilience and strength. It's not about ignoring, avoiding, hiding or suppressing your feelings (this makes them stronger and seem bigger and more difficult to manage), but rather about acknowledging them and finding healthy ways to cope and move forward. This is a form of self-care that can lead to greater self-awareness and emotional intelligence.
The minute we believe that this shouldn't be happening, this is wrong, this feels terrible, the more power we give to it.
It's okay to prioritize your feelings and take care of your mental and emotional well-being. It's all part of the journey towards mastering this video game we call life.