Emotions
Humans are creatures of intellect, propelled forward not by instinct but by rational thought. Because of this, humans are also creatures of emotion. You cannot be an intelligent creature, capable of making decisions, without having an emotional investment in the decisions you make and, ultimately, your life. Emotions are powerful mental responses to the world around you. They show you how to react in the situations you encounter, they are the reason you feel joy and the reason you feel heartache. Some emotions are powerful and dangerous, gaining control of the person, while others are small and insignificant, hardly noticed by anyone. Regardless of whether or not you are aware of them, emotions play a huge part in determining the course of life.
Emotions are so powerful because they determine the thought processes of the brain. Consider the emotion of fear. When you’re faced with a dangerous situation, your brain responds emotionally and you begin to feel fear. Physically you feel adrenaline rushing through your body and you have a sudden fight or flight instinct. If you didn’t have an emotional response, your body would lose the capacity to respond as it needed to, and you may not even be aware of the danger. Fear is one of the most powerful emotions; it has the power to save you or incapacitate you, depending on your physical response to the emotion. Along those same lines, when you’re in a situation where you feel safe and secure, you feel the emotions of happiness or contentment. You don’t have a drastic physical response, such as the fight or flight instinct, but you respond physically by smiling, laughing, and showing pleasure. The emotion you feel, whether it’s the emotion of fear or the emotion of happiness, indicates to you how you should react to the situation you are in. The reaction is automatic, usually done before you’re aware that you are doing it.
Emotions are more than simple indicators in your life. They are the reason you are able to feel anything. Love, compassion, integrity, and honor are all positive emotions that bring happiness and fulfillment to your life. Hate, obsession, anger, and disgust are all negative emotions that make living life unbearable. Between these eight emotions is a range of emotions that is so broad you could never identify or name them all. You do, however, experience many of them every day. If it weren’t for this emotional spectrum you would never feel heartache when a loved one passes away, and you would never feel joy at the birth of a child. You would never experience pain, but you would never experience pleasure either. Without this range of emotions you would be indifferent to life, to people, and to experiences. You would, quite literally, be a zombie.
Every person experiences emotions, whether they like it or not. Some people let the emotions take them too far, putting them in situations that are dangerous to themselves or others. Consider the emotions of anger, revenge, and obsession. These three emotions have been the reason for countless murders, wars, and even genocide. They have caused the destruction of millions of lives and families. The people behind the atrocities are people that have allowed the emotion to consume them, blocking out all other feelings for life. Emotions are only beneficial as long as you are controlling them. Once they gain control of you, it becomes dangerous. Of course, when controlled by positive emotions such as passion, love, hope, and joy the opposite occurs. People who are ruled by these emotions better their lives and the lives of those around them because they have the desire and the ability to emotionally touch everyone, in the best way possible. Positive emotions breed positive responses; negative emotions bring negative results. That is the nature of emotion. Neutral emotions such as loneliness, boredom, and curiosity can bring either results.
Emotions are always going to be a part of life. They have to be otherwise you won’t really be living. You don’t have to identify and name every emotion you ever experience. In fact, if you try to focus on them you’ll only heighten the emotion of stress. Emotions are meant to help you determine the good from the bad or pain from pleasure, and every day you experience some aspects of both of these emotions. They’re not meant to be dwelt on, merely experienced. Once you’ve experienced them, you move on and they fade away. Your emotions help you determine the course of your life. Embrace them, feel them, and then let them go.