What are emotions and why do we have them?
Emotions are a signal from our brains that alert us to a change in our environment, ourselves or both. They spark a thought process that helps make decisions.
They are generally short term or fleeting, when compared to a mood. A mood can last several hours, days or even weeks. They are also different than your unique personality traits. Most of us utilize a combination of our thoughts, experiences, personality AND emotions to make decisions. Common emotions are fear, anger, worry, joy, trust and love.
For decades, professionals have argued whether an emotional reaction is an involuntary response, or the result of a judgment we’ve made after evaluating a current situation. In other words, “do we control our emotions, or do they control us?”.
According to scientific research emotions are simply motivators. Our reaction to a situation is a combination of our personality, mood and our perception to the situation. The fact is, we are evolved and we have the ability to learn how to control our emotional responses and behavior.
Emotions can provide us with key information that we shouldn’t ignore. However, using only your emotions to motivate behavior would be like walking around on auto pilot most of the time.
Getting to know yourself more deeply and how you’re built, will bring awareness to ALL the factors that motivate your reactions and behaviors. Allowing you to be more equipped to deal with any changes in your life effectively.