“Emotional well-being is the ability to feel and express the entire range of human emotions and to control them, not be controlled by them.” – Brian Luke Seaward, Ph.D.
Anger manifests in many different forms, including impatience, rage, hostility, guilt, envy, and jealously. Fear also appears in a variety of forms, including fear of the unknown, fear of failure, fear of rejection, and the most common of all fears, fear of death. These two emotions, and all the feelings they generate, are actually not bad emotions to have during emergency situations. When faced with physical danger, anger elicits an urge to fight while fear produces an urge to flee the situation. In these circumstances, anger and fear remain for only a short period of time until the emergency is over. These emotions can become unhealthy however, if they persist over a long period of time or if they are used for nonphysical threats.
Why worry? It only produces negative effects on the body and mind. It is important to identify concerns we have and formulate plans to address them. But to spend time worrying does nothing to fix the problem or concern. Because our thoughts create action, if we worry, we get caught up in fear that may never go away. If our worry energy can be transformed into productive energy that focuses on finding solutions, then we have a strong chance of moving forward in a positive direction that leads to growth and renewal. Unfortunately worry not only leaves us in a stuck holding pattern unable to move forward, but left unchecked, it can lead to a greater chance of illness compared to those who worry less or who know how to handle their worries in a productive way. Worry is nothing more than a time waster and unnecessary stressor. Eliminate worry from your thinking patterns and be proud of your own individuality and accomplishments, while remaining kind to yourself.
It is critical that we deal with our emotional needs because, “the way we react to stress appears to be more important than the stress itself.” Also, illness is really a sign that we are out of balance in some way and need to address a particular life situation, feeling or thought that needs attention.
Thoughts, emotions and physical sensations create the backdrop for how we perceive our immediate experiences. By keeping a portion of our focus inward towards ourselves, we can identify the thoughts, emotions or physical sensations that are triggered by current life situations or events. And once we recognize these signs, we can use this information to identify what specific issues lay underneath these signs. Because our society encourages us to think with our minds all of the time, most of us have not yet acquired the skills of moving beyond thinking into other realms of our being. Pay attention to your body to find out what it is telling you through your body posture, physical sensations, and energy level. Check in with your emotions by identifying them and try to tie the emotion to a related physical sensation. Observe your thoughts and identify them. With practice, we can begin to recognize that we have more choices at our disposal about how to live, as opposed to responding to situations strictly due to a long-standing habit or automatic response.