If there is anything that is going through your mind now it is – how can emotions have enemies? It sounds weird, right? But I am sorry to disappoint you because the statement is most true.
Well, this means that emotions that can work against you in order to limit your achievements, slow your progress and stop your desire to do better than the enemy.
These enemies may not be physical, yet their works can manifest from the inside out to give a physical presence or recognition.
Emotion and its kinds
The human mind comprises of the negative emotions which are the enemies and the positive emotions which are the friendly ones. Some examples of these emotions include;
Good emotions: happiness, joy, peace, love, satisfaction, trust, and anticipation.
Bad emotions: anger, sadness, fear, regret, loneliness, hatred, jealousy and cowardice
No one would love to have any of the above mentioned bad emotions. Not even you, if you were to be paid daily to have at least one of those emotions.
This is because the experiences they bring produce only bad energy – nothing good comes out of it. And when you don’t fight them, they will gradually drag you down to even something worse.
These emotions whether enemies or friends, are all within us. They sleep with us, wake up with us and follow us everywhere we go, always waiting for any slightest opportunity to manifest.
The bad news is that we can’t eliminate them from within us, but the good news is that we can suppress or silence them to allow good emotions to show.
Ways you can effectively combat daily emotional enemies
- Focus on your feelings
Feelings manifest our emotions. So through your every day feeling(s), one could know which one of them comes with bad energy.
You can also note down your encounters with people for the day and how they made you feel. When you do so, you can know what kind of emotions are influencing you.
- Point them out
Focusing on your feelings will make it easier for you to identify them. To get the maximum result, you should try not to hide your feelings from yourself.
Let them out instead, but don’t try to create unwanted emotions either. Act natural, just as you would have when you are not focused on yourself.
- Find out what stirs such emotions
Try to find out what’s responsible for influencing you with emotional enemies. This will enable you to know how to combat it.
For instance, you always have hatred towards one of your cousins because he bullies you. Here, the emotion – hatred and the cause is your cousin.
- Acknowledge them all
Emotions are natural feelings, sometimes you have to feel sadness before you can appreciate happiness.
When such negative emotion overwhelms you, try not to criticize yourself. Sometimes, there is nothing you can do to overcome it depending on the cause.
For example: when a loved one dies, you feel sadness, grief, and pain. These emotions are negative, yet are in line with the situation.
So, understanding and accepting how you feel sometimes can give you the strength to move on.
- Find a way to express yourself
This is one of the times to act on your emotions, as you already know the one affecting you and the cause.
You can try to find answers to your situation by discussing them with your friends, families or anyone. Speak to anyone who can give you advice on how to replace bad emotions with good ones.
- Swap moods
There are times in your life when you need to let go of your emotional enemies. When you do this, you can find happiness and inner peace.
At such times, you need to shift those negative emotions to allow the good ones to occupy your memory.
It is important to know that you may not be able to change the emotion itself. However, having a change in mood will affect the emotions and no other option than to follow suit.
For example, when you feel sad about a lost job, you can listen to cool music. This will calm you and make your mood better.
- Surround yourself with positive emotions
When we are down, we try to get up, gather strength and move forward.
It may not be possible to avoid the emotional enemies every day in your life. On the contrary, the decision in wanting a life filled with happiness, peace, and joy will make you build need positive emotions.
You can make it possible by recognizing every little thing that can make your mood better. Then, allow them to override you.
- Choose your situation
Some situations can bring about emotions that we could have avoided. One who is afraid of a confined space should not create such situations where he is faced with fear.
In this instance, a fear which the emotion could have been avoided by taking a taxi rather than squeezing yourself in a bus filled with people.
- Make alterations
Emotions can be altered so as not to bring bad energy. To make this happen, you have to first of all prepare before time so that you can be able to avoid the bad emotions interfering.
This means that you have to come up with a plan B or even C in what situation you think that might create bad emotions.
For example, if you have the fear of staying alone, you can reach out to 2 or 3 of your friends who could stay with you for the time being.
So that when one disappoints, one from the other two is likely to fit in the gap, thereby avoiding the negative emotions of disappointment, loneliness, and fear.
- Let it all out
This might seem weird, but sometimes we have to let out those bad emotions within. When you do so, the good ones can occupy your memory other than suppressing it.
This reason is why those who are always eager to let people how they feel don’t have grudges. Within them, they prefer to say it out to have a free mind.
- Exercise
This is a strong tool that can help to suppress your emotional enemies. Sometimes, when you feel tense, try to sweat it off by running, jogging,etc., or cool it off by swimming.
This is because exercise has a way of improving our mood.
- Know who to share your feelings
You can open up to anyone whom you think can be of help to you and can give you a better idea. Though, it’s your decision to do so.
You can share your feelings with your mom, dad, siblings, friends, or anyone else. However, you have to ensure that such a person can protect your feelings.
- Seek professional help
Some emotions are hard to combat, no matter how hard you try. It seems as if it was superglued to your mind and wouldn’t let go.
For example, the feeling you have when you lose a baby or your only child due to negligence can’t easily let go.
When you are trapped in this situation, then you need to be helped by a professional. It might possibly lead to depression and the feeling of wanting to harm yourself.
Understanding emotions better
Sometimes, we confuse feelings with emotions. They may seem to be the same but they are quite different in their functions.
For better understanding, there are no feelings without emotions, because those feelings come from the emotions.
The joy, happiness, sadness and all emotions are perceived by the brain. They help to define meaning to each of them through feelings, which is to say that through feelings, we know the emotions at work.
For example:
When you feel happy, it means the emotion for happiness is at work.
When you feel sad, it also means the emotion for sadness is at play.
Some studies about the human mind-body connection showed that;
- Happiness affects the Heart
- Anger affects the Liver
- Sadness affects the Heart and the Lungs
- Thoughtfulness affects the Heart and the Spleen
- Fear affects the Heart and the Kidney
- Anxiety affects the Lungs and the Heart
- Surprise affects the Heart and the GallBladder
Bottom Line
Certainly, emotions can affect us to a great extent either positively or negatively. It can either improve our health and longevity or impair it. So, when next those negative emotions stir up, you can then have a reason to combat them.
