It’s time to end the debate, “Are emotions good or bad?” To be honest we can no longer afford to think in binaries. Instead, we should ask, “What do emotions communicate?” That way we can acknowledge that emotions give us feedback of how we are experiencing he world around us. Guilt, for instance, means that we did something wrong. While anger communicates that our boundaries have been breached.
Emotions are reactions that human beings experience in response to events or situations. The type of emotion a person experiences is determined by the circumstance that triggers the emotion.
The Three Key Elements That Make Up Emotion By Kendra Cherry Updated on February 25, 2022
Emotions influence both thought and behavior. Which means they influence our daily lives. We make many decisions based on whether we feel happy, sad, angry, bored or frustrated. When choose hobbies and activities based on the emotions they incite. Understanding emotions can help us navigate life with more ease. That is the goal of emotional wellness too.
Our Wednesday well-being tip: Emotions are not good or bad. They help us know how we are interacting with the world.
Once we understand why we experience emotions, we can process them and finally work to meet our needs. At this point it is also fair to mention that we cannot control emotions. We actually manage them then make decisions that honor our needs. Control implies that we seek to continuously try to focus on the outside factors to avoid experiencing certain kinds of emotions. However, that puts us at a disadvantage since we neglect our inner world and needs.
We are complex human beings but our emotions do not have to be as complex. That is where a wellness flashcard by GSN comes in. It uses the concept of classifying emotions as primary or secondary. The primary emotions are based on feeling either glad, sad or afraid. While secondary emotions make us feel mad. We feel mad when we cannot feel or express either sadness or being afraid.
Green String Network Emotions Flashcard
Our bodies know how to experience emotions on a physical level but we have to do the rest. Which involves observing our emotions, using words to express them, advocating for our needs and improving our relationships. For instance, when feeling angry, we can find a healthy way to cope then express it when we are calmer. That saves us from aggravated conflicts in our relationships because we disengage the auto responses and make conscious decisions instead.
Emotional wellness is a journey. We should to be kind to ourselves throughout. Often when we talk about having bad mental health days, it is in relation to our emotional wellness. This is why we have to take a lot of time to learn how to name our emotions and speak about them. All in all, our emotions are our friends.
Growth Catalysts 