General information about emotions

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Emotions provide important messages

Emotions are a part of our everyday life and involved in everything we do. Some things make us angry, some nostalgic and some make us choke with laughter. Every emotion has its place – even those we often consider ‘bad’.

Emotions provide us with important messages that we should learn to listen to. They also create meaning and make things ‘feel like something’. Accordingly, you should forget the distinction between good and bad emotions and learn to value the importance of all of them. Without your emotions, you would not be yourself.

By accepting all emotions as a part of yourself, you are also able to accept yourself the way you are. This will also improve your self-esteem and allow you to like yourself even when everything does not go as well as it could.

Your own way to experience emotions is the right one

Emotions refer to short-term, spontaneous and passing reactions. They are caused by stimuli that may originate from yourself or from the outside. Experiencing sensations also includes physical signs that may include, for instance, the following:

• Increased heart rate
• Sweating
• Increased blood pressure
• Blushing
• Trembling
• Nausea

There is no single correct way to experience emotions. Everyone experiences and expresses them individually. Our temperament, personality and previous experiences all affect, for example, the following:

• How different emotions feel like in our body
• What kinds of emotional reactions different things and situations cause
• How we express emotions

Our individual differences in experiencing and expressing emotions make each one of us unique. When we give space to our individual sensations, we are able to truly accept ourselves the way we are.

Difficult emotions are important too

It is easy to think of certain emotions as good and positive. Working with them is easy and straightforward. Emotions such as joy, love, excitement and approval release energy and help everything function as if by itself.

Emotions we consider negative, however, are the difficult ones. Hatred, disgust, shame, fear, pain and sense of failure are examples of feelings that we often find hard to accept. Nonetheless, they are as important as the emotions we consider positive.

Difficult emotions make us act in ways such as the following:

• Prepare for challenging things and situations
• Find alternative solutions
• Search for means of change
• Try harder
• Protect ourselves from dangers

Remember that there is always a reason for a certain emotion to awaken. They have important messages to tell us, whether they are about things we have ignored in life or opportunities for personal growth.

By listening to the messages your feelings have for you, you will learn to understand yourself better. Your self-knowledge will increase, you will learn to function better in different situations and interacting with others will become easier. Your self-esteem will improve once you accept yourself – all aspects of yourself.