Feelings and emotions are often confused to mean the same thing. What exactly are emotions? Where do emotions originate and how do they impact our daily life? Emotions are feelings such as happiness, disappointment, and anger. Emotions have both physiological and cognitive elements that affect behaviour. Faced with a bullying boss, the anger you feel may lead you respond aggressively. Every emotional experience brings various physiological changes like increase in heart rate, sweating and psychological changes like changes in levels of attention and motivation within us. Experts still have many questions about the brain’s role in a range of emotions but have identified the origins of fear, anger, happiness, and love. According to studies the amygdala, prefrontal cortex and hypothalamus of the brain play a role in the origin of emotion.
Emotions can have a positive and negative effect. Fear, anger, and jealousy can be harmful to an individual’s development, studies suggest that negative emotions lead to chronic stress, hormonal imbalance, and in some cases lead to hypertension. Positive emotions like joy, amusement, curiosity, and happiness lead to faster recovery, better sleep, and contribute to positive attitudes like gratitude and serenity. Have you ever said something out of anger and later regretted? Do you let fear talk you out of taking the jump that could really benefit you? If so, you are not alone. Emotions have a certain power over our thoughts. Research suggests, when making judgements people often ask themselves “how do I feel about this” in such cases positive affect leads to a more positive evaluation and a negative affect leads to a negative judgment.
Emotions can also influence the quality of decisions we make. For Example, anger can lead to impatient decision making and if excited we make quicker decisions without considering implications. Gaining control over your emotions will help you become mentally stronger. Emotional strength is necessary as it involves many facets of our life.
Ignoring your emotions will not make them go away. Before you can change how you feel, it is important to acknowledge what you are experiencing. Labelling how you feel can take the judgment out of the emotion. It can also help you take careful note of how those feelings will affect your decisions. Reframe your thoughts. Consider the emotional filter you are looking at the world through. Then, reframe your thoughts to develop a more realistic and accepting view.
Building emotional strength will help you gain self-acceptance, enable you to love yourself more while still striving for self-improvement. You will be able to enjoy life to its fullest when you turn challenges into opportunities for growth. As your emotional strength increases, you will feel more confident in the decisions you make. Remember, Emotional strength does not mean you are perfect, it just means you have the skills to cope with whatever life hands you to win your inner game. Grab your free ebook now for deeper insights for yourself www.mamtasaha.com. Until next time, good luck x