In recent times, positive emotions and their benefits have gained some popularity. However, when we start talking about emotions, it is necessary, in my opinion, to dispel some false myths that can confuse our understanding of them. Let's focus on three of these myths:
MYTH 1. Positive emotions are good, negative emotions are bad
No. All emotions are good and necessary. The difference between positive or negative comes from the satisfaction that remains in the memory of the person who has experienced them. Thus, those who have felt joy generally have a more pleasant memory than those who have felt fear.
MYTH 2. Negative emotions harm me
No. The important thing about emotions (all of them) is that they are adapted to the environment we are living in. If I am crossing a street without traffic lights, it is preferable to be with a degree of alertness (a point of fear) to make sure that there is no danger than with joy and confidence; in the same way, if I look at the economic results of my company, I see that we are in the red and I feel anger to a low degree (determination), it can allow me to take the necessary decisions to solve the situation.
MYTH 3. Positive emotions heal
No. The only thing that the most rigorous studies have shown is that positive emotions have beneficial effects on health and can favour a more satisfactory evolution in certain processes. They are undoubtedly related to higher levels of subjective well-being. All emotions are legitimate, it is natural to feel them and it is natural to feel them. It is important that we give ourselves permission to have emotions and to see them in others.. They are necessary, because in the end emotions determine our response and the repertoire of actions available to interact with the environment, they are states of consciousness. If I feel disgust I can protect myself from eating something unhealthy or even avoid relating to someone who is not good for me. If I feel inspiration, I may be able to recognise qualities in others that were previously hidden and grow with them.
How many negative emotions can we identify?
Historically, more work has been done with negative emotions since they have a more immediate characterisation (facial expression, breathing pattern, muscle tension) and, in addition, their dysfunctions (non-adaptation to the environment) produce a more evident deterioration of well-being. Although there are multiple classifications according to different authors, among the basic negative emotions we can find the following:
- Fear: which is what allows us to survive in the face of danger.
- Anger: which allows us to act with determination and to set limits in order to defend our integrity.
- Disgust: which allows us to be selective about what is good for us.
- Sadness: which allows us to recover internally from some major adversity.
If we broaden the spectrum, Envy and Shame may appear. Surprise, which according to recent studies shares signals with Fear, may have a more ambiguous character in relation to positivity / negativity.
And how many positive emotions do we know about?
Although with a more unspecific characterisation from the perspective of corporeality, we can identify by their triggers and the actions that make the following positive emotions possible:
Love: is the emotion that allows us to establish connections with others or to enhance them with ourselves. It drives the need to share time and space with people who mean something to us. It makes us want to do good and be better people. It also makes us want to care for and respect ourselves.
Joy: is the energy, the smile and the playfulness when things are going well or even better than we could have imagined. It moves us to be in tune with those around us, to be confident and to feel full of life.
Gratitude: appears when we appreciate something that crosses our path. It is recognising and appreciating the good things in our life, because they are there or because others have made them for us.
Serenity: is similar to a quiet joy. It is comfort, peace, calm, in harmony with the world, when the heart, mind and body are relaxed and untroubled. It often follows other experiences of glowing positivity.
Interest: is the emotion necessary for learning. When things that capture our intellectual attention and curiosity lead us to explore, discover and take on different challenges. It generates a sense of freedom with an intense attraction to knowledge and the unexplored.
Hope: comes into play when circumstances are not as we want them to be and we believe they can change for the better, no matter how bad we see them now. It allows us to create a future with possibilities for action, encouragement and optimism. It prevents us from giving in to despair.
Pride (satisfaction): is the sense of achievement we experience after we have put a lot of effort into something, achieved a good result and want to share it with others. It motivates us to achieve new and bigger challenges. It increases security and confidence.
Fun: is, of course, when something makes you laugh in connection with others. It is social, not something we experience alone. It takes place in an atmosphere of safety, carefree, lightness and closeness with other people.
Inspiration: is when we appreciate human nature at its best. It is the attraction to an extraordinary talent or performance that goes beyond the everyday. It makes us feel good about our fellow man and takes us out of ourselves. It is uplifting and makes us strive for great things.
Admiration: is when we are moved by the greatness of things, leading us to humility. Nature and art in its many variants can provoke in us a sense of awe that leaves us speechless to narrate the experience. It allows us to realise that there is something much bigger than ourselves in life and the universe.
Trust: is the emotion on which human relationships that evolve in a satisfactory way for all are built. It generates spaces of freedom, creativity, security, sincerity, coordination, attention, care and quality in the relationship. Positive intention allows us to experience and interpret error as an opportunity for learning.
Fluency: is the state of concentration and absorption where everything is possible, aware of our capabilities, without fear of failure. It is a feeling of ecstasy, of being out of daily reality, with great inner clarity, timelessness and intrinsic motivation, which produces the flow becomes its own reward.
In practice we talk about thought, emotion and behaviour as separate and interrelated entities in order to make progress in their management. The emotional trigger (reaction to a situation) cannot be changed. If something makes me angry, it is difficult to change the first emotional reaction. What we I can modify are the consequences of that emotional triggeringI can do a re-evaluation, change my thoughts, then my emotion and finally my behaviour. Some people do it naturally, while others need to learn it through techniques with which they can re-evaluate reality. As we say in coaching, we cannot change reality, but we can change how we interpret it..
