Licensed Clinical Psychologist
Emotions just happen all the time, as part of our human nature. It's possible to have feelings about anything. They are a form of pure energy that can persist, remarkably, over a lifetime. there is usually characteristic triggering event for each emotion with an immediate impulse to act in a certain way. Emotions tell us quickly our position towards this event, generally whether it is beneficial or not. Emotions are unusually persistent and do not have to be conscious to affect our thoughts, decisions and actions.
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| Photo Credit: womansforum.com |
We are anatomically wired for emotions through ANS pathways, brain anatomy, neuropeptides, and the instinctual system. Each primary emotion can be sensed and labeled reliably by individuals. Each emotion often blends with other emotions, and we can even have emotions about emotions!
The benefit or cost of an emotion to us depends on how we act on it. Emotions not handled well become stress, which brings less energy, more upset, and less capacity to respond positively. Over time, if emotions are not integrated into our life, they become trapped in rigid moods. Moods involve emotions in a tangle of thoughts, beliefs, attitudes, and action tendencies, a stuck way of looking at the world that does not allow completion of the feeling. The instinctive path of handling emotions leads to defensiveness and ultimately to rigid, stuck moods.
On the other hand, the reflective, distinctly human path of handling emotions allows their acceptance, integration and ultimate fulfillment. Fulfillment of any emotion means its purpose has been filled, the emotion completed, and its disappearance. Emotional freedom is a sense of having relatively few unfulfilled emotional claims. All emotions originate with our loves and attachments, and our happiness is their fulfillment through constant contact, skill, and dedication. The result is a sense of peacefulness - a dynamic process of regular, dependable fulfillment of our emotional life.
This series of articles will be all about how to can bring emotional fulfillment into every area of your life.
About Dr. Raynard
Dr. Richard Raynard is a licensed clinical psychologist with 35 years experience resolving a broad range of emotional problems. As a cognitive-behavioral therapist who has specialized in anxiety and phobic disorders since 1980, I have spent the last 35 years fulfilling my life-long desire to explore and define the true purpose of emotions and how people can easily use emotions to create meaning and satisfaction in their lives. Dr. Raynard's series of books on emotions can be found on Amazon.com. His other books include Don't Panic, and Anxiety & Panic Medications.
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