moods are literally contagious and most men are completely undefended against our partner’s took me way too long to actually grok this. your partner walks in from a hard day… nobody says anything, nobody starts a fight, but something just shifts. by the end of the night you’re both carrying it, the mood has spread to the kids, and nobody can even trace it back to a source anymore. that’s emotional contagion. it’s real, it’s automatic, and most men have no defense against it because they don’t even know it’s happening. the stoics had a name for what stops it. epictetus (stoic philosopher) sorted everything into “what’s mine to govern” and “what isn’t.” her mood isn’t mine. what i do when i notice it arriving is. aka: focus on yourself and only your actions/inner thoughts but you can only act on that if you catch the signal. most men don’t. the mood walks in and they’re already mirroring before they’ve registered anything happened. the practice is just: name it. her stress/anxiety is in the room - its not mine. before the name, mirroring is automatic. after it, you have a choice (at least I think) does anyone else use something like a doorstep check? curious what other people have found that works. Also, share if you’ve figured out how to navigate the moods without simply escaping / ejecting (physically and even mentally) submitted by /u/nicholas-holland
Originally posted by u/nicholas-holland on r/AskMen
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