The biological and physiological underpinnings of emotions were discussed by Aristotle around 350 BC, in De Amina (On The Soul), per Discrete Emotion Theory which states: there are core emotions that are biologically determined emotional responses whose expression and recognition is fundamentally the same for all individuals regardless of ethnic or cultural differences. Did you know?
EMO Cali is short for EMOTIONAL CALIBRATION and is exactly what I want to talk about this morning. Why? Because feelings are personal and revealing. What are your thoughts/philosophy on sitting in un-comfortability to figure out why you feel and react the way that you do?
Let's examine the emotions JOY and GUILT because they are common emotions that we may experience on any given day.
What is GUILT? A feeling that refers to the belief that you have done something wrong or that you will do something wrong. We feel this way when we are out of alignment with our true values. Emotions arise as "a necessary check", (like the check engine light in your car), so that you check-in with your true values on the topic via introspection and retrospection.
Once you recognize that the uncomfortable feeling that you are experiencing is Guilt what do you do then? Understanding that emotions arise to protect us from being vulnerable and hurt, remember, they are innate in their prompts. Emotions pop up when someone says something loving or offensive to you.
Those off-the-cuff quips that you remark are emotional. Knowing that emotions were made to protect us, do you think that you could meet your Guilty feeling with curiosity? Ask yourself WHY you felt like you needed to protect yourself in that particular situation or conversation that has you feeling guilty and you might find the natural answer to be 'you honestly didn't know how to respond and that emotional quip was a tourniquet to your feeling vulnerable in the moment.
Guilt exists to let us know what is important to us. When you live and speak your values there's no prompt for guilt to thrive in. So, the next time you feel guilty, sit in that emotion for a moment and figure out why you did or said something that doesn't represent you and then align it with your true values.
What is JOY? Joy is a feel-good core emotion. If your supervisor remarks "how clean your shoe game is," joy shows up immediately and your response would be amazingly sunny and warm. Joy is always on deck. Everyone has seen a happy baby, right? There's even a Yoga pose called "Happy Baby," and happiness stems from Joy. Babies have joy in spades and no matter how old you are, you are still a baby to Mother Earth. Therefore, locate your Joy and reside there. Joy can also help you to live longer than you ever expected. Its good for your heart, so reveal in it.
On the other hand, Joy is also the reason why some people yield a nervous laugh as a first response to almost everything. Laughter is a preferred protective goto at new incoming information but not a true reflection of the weight of the information.
'You ever consider EMO Cali to balance the depth of an emotion by implementing or utilizing the power of another emotion? It sounds easier said than done, but not by much.
Emotions are easy to calibrate when you align them with your true value system. Then and only then will it stick and render you more confident in your responses. Also, please do not be too hard on yourself for your auto-protective-emotional responses, because they are natural. The good news is, now you know how to process uncomfortable emotions that arise without inadvertently damaging your character.
Emotional responses arise to protect you when you don't understand or know what to say.
God never wants us to feel too vulnerable, so He has given us emotions as a sort of first line of defense. Use them properly and folks will think you are a communication genius.
