Emotions can either make or break us. You can become fiery with passion but you can also become lethargic with remorse. Emotions are inevitable, and a basic part of our human biology. Do not let the primitive, emotional brain (amygdala) dictate the thinking brain (neocortex). What is the primary characteristic that separates us from apes? Our brain. Our brain allows us to act on logical and rational conclusions, and not purely emotional bursts. Watch any animal and take note how they react to their environment to survive. All they do is react and move on. They stay with the simple monotone tune set by nature.
Human Thinking Power
Humans are different. We each individually set our own tune. This is the work of the emotional brain and the thinking brain working together in harmony. You can think about a certain topic but what gives you the incentive to think?
Our emotional brain works as a painter and the thoughts work as the painting.
Emotions come first, always. They then move the strokes of thought until they convey an image, a complete thought. We also have the ability to sell a complete thought to other people but that is to be discussed in the topic of influence. Emotion dictates the action and composition of a thought, but it must be balanced.
Emotional Channeling
If you become ruled by emotions, then you are bound to make rash judgements that you might regret later when you start to think with your logical brain.
Think with your emotions, do not let your emotions think for you.
We are not animals, so do not allows emotions to take helm. What makes a person great is his or her ability to control emotions and channel them. I’ll explain in a personal story of mine:
I rarely touched the field in my early years of high school football, so when the time came it was a big moment. My front foot was lined up with the kicker prepared for a kick off. I was nervous and my heart was pounding. My emotions were about to make the situation ugly… until I took a breath, identified the emotion, and channeled it to a productive cause. In my case, this was to tackle the guy at the other end of the field who had the ball. When the kickers foot made contact with the ball, next thing I remember was tackling the ball-carrier before he made any significant yardage. I provide this example to show the power of emotional channeling. Here are the four steps of emotional channeling.
1: Take a breath.
2: Identify the emotion.
3: Recognize it as energy in motion.
4: Avert the energy to a productive cause.
Channel your emotions with conscious thought, and don’t let your them control you. Ask yourself at random times in the day how you are feeling. Take note. This will build self-awareness so that you will know when you are acting through emotions, or when you are using emotions for your benefit. Use them for your benefit.