Emotional Intelligence: How To Experience True Happiness And Success
Emotions are emotional states caused by physiological changes, typically related to feelings, attitudes, thoughts, and a certain level of displeasure or pleasure. A person's emotions are classified as positive (calm), negative (troubled), neutral (happy), or mixed (sad). There is presently no universal scientific definition. However, we do know that emotional states can change over time.
Many psychologists think that our emotions are stored in two different parts of the brain: The Amygdala, which provide a link between our physical and emotional states; the hypothalamus, which provide a link between our cognitive and emotional states; and the hippocampus, which provide a link between our memory and emotional states. Other researchers think that the amygdala and hippocampus are engaged only during brief moments of stress or emotion. Other studies indicate that the emotional processes occur in long intervals or in a continuous stream. Most of the studies agree that these processes take place in a network involving the central nervous system (CNS), midbrain, and the cortex.
Emotions are often difficult to recognize because they do not resemble the behavior of other physical states in the body. For example, when a person is startled by a car driving by or feels a tickle in his throat, he does not immediately think of a heart attack or serious illness. He may instead think of some kind of unpleasant sensation. When he subsequently has a feeling that he is experiencing a medical emergency, his brain has to make a quick judgment that it should alarm him rather than allowing the feelings to pass. The amygdala, hypothalamus, and hippocampus are engaged, but the judgment of what is causing the reaction is made by the sympathetic nervous system.
This makes emotions particularly challenging to control. If you can only feel bad when you have had bad experiences, you will continue to have those negative feelings. Conversely, if you learn to manage your feelings of anger or fear, then you will be better able to control them. If you want to stop smoking, you might try to make yourself not experience your first cigarette anytime soon. Similarly, you might avoid getting into arguments, for fear that you will create more of them.
However, emotions are not always as easy to control as behavior. The brain's physiological processes are geared to help you survive various threatening situations. Therefore, when you are faced with overwhelming negative emotions such as anger or shame, your brain will continue to send alert signals to your body to escape or fight. Your heart rate will increase, you may sweat, you may pace, and you may even get tense.
In addition to the biological makeup of your body, your cognitive processes help to regulate your emotions. When you experience sadness, your cognitive memory is repressed until you need it to remember how you feel. Thus, you may not feel sadness when you are experiencing a loss of a loved one, but when you need it, you will experience sadness. Similarly, during times of stress, you may suppress your emotions until you have enough energy to deal with them. When this happens, you feel the emotion rather than experiencing it. Thus, in situations like these, it is important to know how to control your emotions so that you can effectively deal with what is actually happening.
As an emotion, it is similar to adrenaline. It gives you strength to fight or flee. However, if you use your emotions incorrectly, they can damage your health. For instance, you can experience muscle pain by trying to lift something too heavy. Instead, you should focus on what is happening and not on how you feel.
People are experts when it comes to emotions. But being an emotional person is only half of the equation. You must learn how to control your emotions so that you can experience happiness and fulfillment in your life. Once you learn how, you will find that you have more control of your emotions, which can lead to a happier and healthier lifestyle.
