"How to Live With Intensity"

Begin by noticing the moment before the feeling arrives.

It often announces itself quietly---

a tightening,

a quickening,

a sense that something is already too much.

Do not rush to name it.

Names come later.

For now, sit with the sensation

as if it were weather passing through a room

you cannot leave.

If your first instinct is to fix it, pause.

Fixing is a form of panic.

Instead, place both feet on the ground

and let the feeling move where it wants to move,

even if that place is uncomfortable.

Remember:

intensity is not urgency.

It does not require immediate action.

It asks only to be acknowledged

without being argued with.

When the feeling grows loud,

lower your expectations of yourself.

This is not the moment for clarity

or eloquence

or restraint that costs you something essential.

If you feel the urge to explain to yourself, wait.

Explanation can come later.

Right now, focus on staying present---

breathing,

listening,

allowing the moment to exist

without trying to outpace it.

There will be times when the feelings spills over.

This does not mean you have failed.

It means you are human

inside a system that was never built

for emotions that arrive all at once.

When the intensity begins to fade,

do not demand a lesson from it.

Not every experience is meant to teach.

Some are only meant to pass through you

and leave you slightly changed.

Finally, practice returning to yourself

without judgement.

Living with intensity is not about mastering it.

It is about learning how to remain present

without disappearing

or becoming someone smaller

to make the feeling easier to hold.

Afterward, resist the urge to catalog what happened.

You do not need to remember it perfectly

to prove that it mattered.

If your body still holds traces of the feeling,

let them remain.

They are not evidence of failure.

They are signs that something moved through you

without being forced into silence.

When you returned to the world,

do so gently.

Speak when you are ready.

Rest when you are not.

Intensity does not disappear with practice.

What changes is your willingness

to say with yourself

until it passes.