My mom told me a story about my grandma.  Grandma told her when her husband died she wouldn’t allow herself to cry.  She stayed strong.  When a granddaughter died a few years later she said she couldn’t cry.

A therapist told me something similar when I was in counseling. Her advice was to allow myself to feel embarrassed in a situation instead of running away and hiding.

We need to allow ourselves to feel our emotions.  They probably won’t be pretty.  They might be rather messy.  But we need to allow them time.  Let yourself feel what the moment is causing you to feel.

What works best for you when you need to allow an unpleasant feeling time?