Yesterday this hit me: our emotions in a certain situation are not always triggered by that situation, but we don’t realize it. I know, I know… this doesn’t seem to be so much of a revelation. It’s obvious that sometimes we come with our emotional baggage in each new daily life. However, I believe there is a different side of that.
Imagine the following situation: you like to blog and you plan doing it every day for the rest of your life. You’ve started one week ago and you’re still pretty pumped about it, but you feel some anxiety when you need to open your editor to actually do some writing. Now the question is: how come you’re pumped and anxious in the same time regarding the same things? Is it fear of judgement or of the possibility of being rejected? If that’s the case, where is the excitement coming from?
In my opinion, a possible explanation is related to our ego. I think the excitement can come from the idea of what we might become. Our own idea of how our life might look like if we achieve the end goal of our actions can be the source of that excitement.
The same can happen regarding any situation. Let’s say that you feel excited when going on a trip, but the excitement itself might come from the fact that you’ll have the chance to eat your favorite food in that trip. You “selfishly” get something from that trip and that’s why you are excited in the first place.
The more I think about this idea, the more sense it makes. Our feelings can be created by some twisted interpretations of something merely related to our current situation, but we get pumped and excited about our present moments. It might seem that we enjoy that even though that’s not the source of that excitement.
How hard/easy is it for you to “track” the main source of your emotions?
It’s easier for me to track the negatives than the positives. It’s far more easier for me to get crazy anxious over scenarios that haven’t even gone wrong yet. Le sigh.
Me too! And as humans, we are wired that way. It’s a thing called “negativity bias”.
Know thyself. If you know yourself you know where your emotions are coming from or Who?
you´re right….but what if you cannot control / hold back your emotional impulses….and what if you are not able to escape from your thinking and behavioral patterns despite of your knowledge and self-reflection.
The latter makes the situation even more painful because you feel guilty and disfunctional.
It’s very difficult for me to figure out what they mean as there so intense and there layered. A bit like reading the altheiometer in the golden golden compass.
Well, at least you are able to recognize not only your emotions but also their different layers….that´s much more than others are capable to do.
I have the same problem.
I hope you get enough time to decipher them so they don’t affect your life too much.
With dementia my emotions are pretty screwed up and then there is that forget thing. So it will be pointlessoverthinking for me. 😆
Btw, excellent post
It is hard but not impossible. Listen to your guts.
Generally speaking, I walk away from whatever the stressor is, and let the back brain do it’s processing. Suddenly there will be an “Aha! This reminds me of the time so and so said this, when I felt very vulnerable.” I won’t say it’s easy, but it’s getting easier to recognize some of the triggers. I’ve signed up for a Chemistry class, and immediately I recall the stress of trying to take that and Biology in the same semester, right after an interstate move, dealing with my brother’s humongous wedding, and not getting the mental health care I need. Surprisingly enough – the only thing that’s the same is I’m going to take the class, and I can ask for help. Suddenly, that anxiety slinks off to the corner, kicking it’s toes against rocks and muttering “I didn’t really want to be here anyway. Stupid logical brain….”
Instinct is that we seek acceptance so we assimilate within groups and their collective unconscious. Now you’re either a slave and keep being others bitch or you go the hard way and you might end up alone but rather with people being honest just like you are. But honesty begins within, towards ourselves. Peace and love
If one one looks deep enough, it becomes clearer that almost all of our thought, feeling (emotions) and physical action are the result of some kind of reflex. We may not be able to see or comprehend them entirely because as days go by they become old, are lost in oblivion, however, remain dormant and acts subconsciously…
I’ve heard a few times a tip for self-awareness – specifically processing emotions – which is to ask yourself, either aloud or in your mind, questions like “what is it that i’m feeling right now?” and “why?” – If you don’t get the answer straight away, keep trying and maybe get a piece of paper and write the first thing that comes to your mind when you ask. This has been a big help on my journey of self-awareness and makes it easier to “track” the source of my emotions.
Ah wow this is so interesting. I never thought about that before but it makes so much sense. I’m realizing recently just how much we respond based on ego and it’s enlightening. Thanks for this
Really good post!!