Emotions exist for a reason

Emotions exist for a reason. They have an actual functional role in our daily living. 

The functional role of emotions is to motivate us to do things. They motivate us to fight and flee, care and share. You know that feeling just before presenting in front of an audience? Or preparing to meet your crush? Or joining a new group of people? Or stepping into a dark alley? These are all situations where our emotions are signaling us. Signaling us about the importance of our performance or a potential danger.


Emotions do not just happen to exist. Emotions are something far more logical (wait, what?) and complex. Emotions are an evolutionary alarm system triggered by signals of importance. And what is a signal of importance changes from person to person. Each of us has different emotions towards the same situation. This is why one can learn much about oneself by capturing their own emotions as they happen. Understanding which emotions are taking place and why, will allow us to gaze deep into ourselves. It is from the depth of unawareness from where our emotions arise as outcomes of signals that are processed outside of our awareness. 


Dealing with emotions can be much like dealing with a child who comes and screams “wolf”.

You must assess your emotions, is there really a wolf or was it just a shadow of an alley cat?

If everything points to a wolf then it probably was one. If an alley cat, then you must soothe your emotions, make them feel heard, explain the situation to them and yourself but not pursue further actions.


Furthermore, emotions can tell you about yourself, what you value and what you wish to avoid. For example, if you feel incompetent, you might not necessarily be incompetent if you objectively asses yourself, but you might really value competency. To ground yourself and get rid of the feeling of incompetency, you must ask yourself, what is enough and objectively asses whether you meet that criteria. Alternatively, if you fear being rejected by someone, you might value that person. You might want to acknowledge this, and acknowledge your attachment but make sure to check that this person truly is worthy.

 

Embrace your emotions and find out what you value.


~ nu

Comments

  1. aboomination30 April 2022 at 07:35

    Btw, there are also homeostatic emotions, such as pain, thirst or hunger. Emotions that motivate us to sustain our body.

    ReplyDelete

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