The role of emotion

This time on Earth can feel like an emotional rollercoaster. One minute we are climbing the steepest hill and the next we are upside down trying not to throw up. It can feel maddening. Understanding our emotions can help us to manage.

Our emotions play a role. We need them. They have developed biologically and environmentally and can protect and warn us. They can motivate action and help us to do things quickly, when there isn’t time to think. Clearly, this can be a positive or a negative depending on context.

They also help us to establish our feelings to others. Whether it be through facial expression or tone, our emotions are physical in manifestation and assist in how we influence our environment and other people.

Most importantly, emotions can influence our behaviors. They act as intuition, guiding us when something “feels off”. The big red flag here is that we can often mistake physical feelings for emotion or vice versa.

Before we can truly begin to understand emotion, and ultimately regulate them, we must acknowledge the role they play. Fear or anger helping to drive us into that sympathetic nervous response is meant to protect. Happiness or sadness is meant to connect. Every emotion has a biological reason for being. The better we understand that, the closer we are to regulating those same emotions.