Dr. John Delony | Source | Mental health and wellness expert at Ramsey Solutions

The difference between someone who is well and whole and someone who is not can almost always be summed up in a single word: boundaries. Setting boundaries is the key to mental and relational health. Full stop.

Practicing empathy starts with just showing up. Throughout my career, I’ve had the privilege of showing up to sit with people in the darkest moments of their lives. I sat with parents who had just discovered their dead child in the next room. I sat with wives whose husbands would never walk through the door again. I met with parents of young people who had taken their lives.

Do you know what I learned?

There’s nothing to say in those moments. Literally—nothing. But presence is everything. When people are gasping for air, they need to feel that they’re not alone. So show up. Hug tight. Sit on the couch. Go to the funeral. Buy the plane ticket. When people are grieving, they don’t need your advice or your explanations. They need your presence . . . and maybe tacos.

I’m often asked about the difference between feelings and emotions. In a nutshell, emotions are your body’s responses to stimuli, and feelings are your brain’s interpretation of your emotions.

Think of emotions as the unconscious, physiological reactions in your body—the shock you have when your boyfriend breaks up with you, or the excitement you feel when you cross a finish line in first place. Emotions set your body into motion.

Feelings, then, are the way we explain and articulate emotions to ourselves and others. You could interpret your energizing emotions after winning your race as joy. You could interpret your shock from the breakup as anger.