Learn how to control emotions
Learning how to control emotions can brighten your daily outlook on the world.
Depression, fear and worry are common states of mind for the average person. We react to things in our lives without thinking about it – but are the negative emotions often triggered by those reactions worth the pain and suffering?
Stop for a moment and think of times lately you experienced any of the above. What set you off? Was there a different weary you could have reacted? How do you feel right now? Are you enjoying your life, or fretting about parts of it?
If you can get your ego in check and hence your emotions, you can have a much higher level state of being instead of a constant roller coaster of emotional angst.
Sometimes you try to maintain a certain stature in your own eyes. It may draw on such things as:
* How much money you have
* What kind of car you drive
* The clothes you wear
* The house you live in
* Whatever connections / friends you have
The problem with basing your self worth on things like these is that when they come under attack, it hurts. Someone makes a crack about your car, your job, your clothes or your mother, and anger, hurt, and frustration rise up and threaten to ruin you.
If you pin the way you view yourself on things or people around you, it can cripple your ability to be truly happy. You’ll constantly be seeking for more, whether in relationships or by making purchases in a desperate effort to fill the void you yourself have created.
Controlling your emotions is a big first step towards happiness and contentment. If you can replace negative emotions with positive ones even in a negative situation, you can eliminate a lot of the stress and anger you carry with you.
1. Be aware of your feelings at any given time. If someone cuts you off, acknowledge your tendency towards road rage, accept the fact that someone cut you off, and understand that it will in all likelihood make no difference in the grand scheme of things. Then simply dismiss the angry emotions and replace them with a conscious gratefulness for anything that springs to mind: the lovely day, your cool car, your health – whatever.
2. Practice ‘switch backing’ your negative emotions. If your emotions are like a steam engine running wild down a track when something happens to set you off, consider diverting the runaway train. Pick a few mantras and assign them to different negative emotions, with randomly chosen ‘positive feelings’ to replace them.
For example, anger could be assigned the mantra “At least I’m not a purple cow“, and the replacement emotion could be amusement. Stretch your face into a goofy grin; repeat your mantra five times saying ‘Ohhhmmmm’ seriously between each repetition – and presto. Odds are your anger will have turned into amusement. Once you learn how to control emotions, you will be a much happier person, or longer tugged around and not hammered flat by negativity.