CAN YOU IDENTIFY YOUR EMOTIONS accurately???

by Terry 69 Replies latest jw experiences

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  bernadette

  I'm cautiously finding it helpful to aim to balance my emotions. It seems to me that life in the wts and damaging upbringing unbalances us emotionally and then that has an impact on how we percieve and live life.

  A marvellous tool for me is to take unavoidable destabilizing emotions into myself and watch it dilute itself in a huge sea of peaceful water.

  Trying to push the emotion away or forget about it doesn't work for me becuase it always comes back when I least expect with damaging destructive outcomes. Mu emotions are so huge otherwise and they terrify me.
• 

  fifi40

  Our emotions are a valuable source of information.

  This is a simplified diagram of what happens when we feel emotion

  EVENT>>>>>>>>>INTERPRETATION (may be based on our values)>>>>>>>>>>>EMOTIONAL RESPONSE.

  Examples of the above happening

  A battered wife whose husband says he is sorry and it wont happen again; does she accept or reject this. Her interpretation of events for arguments sake is based on having seen her own mother abused/ her own low feelings of self esteem and the man who is in front of her telling her he loves her and it wont happen again. Her values may be based on her life experience that abuse happens, it is normal, it is worth it for the good times, you have made your bed so you lie in it, you have to stay together for the kids. If she doesnt have emotional response to the abuse it will never change. If she doesnt have fear of this man and what he can do to her, she will never question her interpretation of life and change it.

  A suicide bomber who is raised on the values of a religion. He is taught that it is right to die for God. The values he is has been given to a rational person are twisted, but to him they are right. The night before he is due to die in a suicide misssion, he is desperately sad and fearful. It is only at this point when his emotions are screaming out to him that something is wrong that he has a chance to examine and change his interpretation and their underlying values.

  So sometimes our emotions are a valuable source of information. They are telling us that something is not right in OUR world and that it is time to re-evaluate our values, our source of interpretation.

  It is only when a JW becomes totally fed up, depressed, unhappy, sad, angry with his life as a JW that he will begin to question that life; the things he has blindly accepted and the value system he has adopted.

  In conclusion our emotions tell us what is happening to us in our world right now, this may be based on fact or fiction. The feelings these emotions arouse can be a very useful source of information in telling us something is right or wrong, good or bad. They may be the very thing that makes us stop and scrutinize all that we have been taught, learnt or had forced upon us.
• 

  Fred E Hathaway

  And if he feels uncomfortable inside himself, he can expose himself to the discomfort and explore it with others. BY learning other viewpoints, he has a chance to grow from that, and become comfortable inside his skin for a change. Like the potential is, for all of us here.
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  YoursChelbie

  The display of some emotions can be more harmful than others.

  For example, road rage has resulted in countless hurt or killed people.

  Someone who is happy to see their beloved relative or friend and shouts for joy would not be harmful.

  Making a pass a co-worker one finds very attractive could lead to them getting fired with accusations of sexual harassment.

  There is clearly a real NEED to CONTROL harmful emotions, since acting on them can do lasting harm.

  Crying when someone dies (as avidbiblereader pointed out) is an emotion that Jesus exihibited, but tears in and of themselves are not hurtful.

  Clearly, it is lazy thinking that eventually leads some people to act on harmful emotions.

  Our values should never be compromised by harmful emotions.

  It takes real conscious effort to identify and control harmful emotions.

  YC
• 

  lonelysheep

  We have all been HACKED! Anytime you feel strongly and can't account for why---or find yourself seized in the grip of a passion (good or bad) which makes you uncomfortable or out of control----instead of surrendering to it----STOP! Run your spyware program and identify the "value" (instruction) that started it all when you weren't paying attention.

  We all need a FIREWALL! Yes, a Firewall between our senses and our emotions. The purpose is to alert us with special notices (!!!!!) that cause us to stop what we are doing and single out for special attention a particular command for decision. The "automatic" actions cause us to overlook the spyware and only conscious attention to detail can begin the removal of faulty instruction (value setting).

  When are we most susceptible? When we TRUST!

  TRUST is dangerous because it shuts off our firewall, turns off our alarm system and leaves us defenseless.

  Been there.

  Nicely put, Terry.
• 

  Terry

  There is clearly a real NEED to CONTROL harmful emotions, since acting on them can do lasting harm.

  Respectfully, I must say you missed my point entirely.

  The harmful emotion is harmful for a reason. The involuntary physical reaction to an instruction (value) has been set and must be removed. When the harmful instruction is identified and rooted out you have no need to control the harmful emotion anymore because it ISN'T PRODUCED ANYMORE.

  Why?

  The instruction (value) is gone and replaced with a correct instruction.

  Would you say a computer infected by virus needs to be controlled or would you say you need to remove the virus?

  See the difference?
• 

  Terry

  Our emotions are a valuable source of information.

  Common misunderstanding.

  Our emotions are NOT a _____________source___________of information.

  What exactly is a "source"?

  A source is where a thing begins.

  1.Event

  2.Sensory perception

  3.Gateway decision event:

  A. Active rational analysis followed by approval/disapproval verdict OR

  B.Passive blank out allowing an unfiltered value to be set in the subconscious.

  4.Concept formation with either:

  A. Precise definitions informing the category with measurable particulars which identify precisely

  OR

  B.Vagueness and undefined fuzziness which lead to contradictions and misinterpretations

  5.Emotional response which is either:

  A. Informed by clearly defined parameters of scale from good to bad within precise contexts and situations

  OR

  B. Surprising and disturbing "feelings" seemingly out-of-our-control

  See the difference?
• 

  Terry

  Let us use humor as an example.

  We are told a joke which consists of a premise containing a context.

  We are placed within a "predictable" framework.

  The punchline introduces us to a conclusion OUTSIDE the context which fools our expectation.

  Laughter is an involuntary reaction to UNexpected information.

  Jokes almost invariably surprise us by stepping outside of context. The physical reaction (laughter) is an involuntary reaction to jarring switch of context and the unexpected nature of the novel conclusion.

  Example:

  Interviewer to young child: "Hi, what's your name little boy?"

  boy: "My name is Bobby."

  Interviewer: "What's wrong Bobby, you seem sad today?"

  boy: "My dog died last week."

  Interviewer: "Aww, don't be sad, Bobby. You dog is with God up in heaven. Someday you'll get to see him again. Cheer up!"

  boy: "That's weird. What would God want with a dead dog?"

  Ask yourself why that is funny and see if the answer isn't in the context.

  (Incidentally, the above is a real interview by Art Linkletter on his program Kids Say the Darndest Things.)
• 

  proplog2

  Terry:

  You said laughter is a natural reaction to unexpected information. True, but there are four types of laughter

  1. Benevolent loving --- Ho Ho Ho

  2. Derisive - -- Ha Ha Ha

  3. Laughter guilt or embarassment Hee Hee

  4. Laughter of discovery Ah Hah
• 

  YoursChelbie

  Terry, I understand your point, however I see definite limitations to your analogy of "computer with virus/ human with emotions."

  First of all humans are not computers, a computer cannot feel lust and indignation. To ask a healthy heterosexual man to NOT feel great attraction to a beautiful, sexy female co-worker would be to ask him to stop being human. He has to "control" his emotions to keep from acting on them when he knows it would lead to bad result ( such as a sexual harassment lawsuit) This control is necessary because he cannot get rid of his feeling of attraction to the co-worker (unless he wears blinders at work and that would cause obvious problems to working effectively) but he can work there provided he controls his emotions and makes a determination to deal in a strictly professional manner with the co-worker.

  Similarly with a person who rudely cuts in front of you on the freeway. A normal human reaction is to become angry, especially if the other driver deliberately causes you to run your vehicle off the road possibly causing you great physical harm. The natural human reaction to this is to become angry, but failure to control that anger and retaliating in some way will only escalate an already bad situation.

  YC