Mastering Your Feelings. Empowering Your Life.
Life, it is often said, is an intensely emotional experience. Have you ever heard that? All of our reactions seem to be driven by our feelings. But, have you ever wondered where your emotions come from? Have you ever paused in the midst of an outburst of anger, for example, to consider where this overpowering eruption of negative energy could have come from?
It’s an intriguing question because most of us associate the way we feel with our uniquely individual personalities. It’s as if the way we feel is simply an extension of who we are. Our feelings could be seen as one of the ways that we express our individuality.
But, strictly speaking, what if this isn’t the case? What if our feelings are not entirely natural? What if they were acquired during our early childhood as a set of programmed, automatic reactions? What if we learned to feel the way we feel as a result of parental conditioning and early social influences? What if our emotional reactions were grafted onto us at a time when we were easily conditioned and wide open to whatever influences we encountered?
Perhaps, therefore, we’re not entirely who we think we are!
Human behaviour flows from three main sources: desire, emotion, and knowledge.
-?????? Plato
The purpose of these questions is to encourage everyone to become more aware of how we think and feel at any given moment and to question whether our mental and emotional reactions are really useful to our growth, success, development and happiness. What role do our feelings play? Are they really helping us - or are they hindering us in our quest for fulfilment?
The way we see the world around us is largely conditioned by the emotional filters we deploy in order to interpret the data that flows past our senses every single second of our lives. With millions of bits of data bombarding us every second, we must be using some kind of filter to exclude the vast majority of the information. Otherwise, we’d be overwhelmed by an impossible deluge of distractions.
Whatever we plant in our subconscious mind and nourish with repetition and emotion will one day become a reality.
-?????? Earl Nightingale
The reticular activator system is the brain’s response to this challenge and its ability to tune into certain details whilst ignoring the rest has been closely documented for decades.
In other words, we all possess a highly-effective data filtration system that creates a particular view of the world- a view that largely conforms to our expectations. This is why the vast majority of the information that surrounds is completely unnoticed by our conscious minds. That’s why two people can witness the same event yet report very different experiences. They’re simply using different filtration criteria. The filter, however, is not fixed in the way it accepts some data whilst blocking other information. The important insight for us to welcome today is that we have the extremely useful ability to change the filtration system in order to favour different sets of data.
Let’s take an example. Just imagine how your view of yourself and the world around you would change if you felt and believed that you were an unstoppable force for success? How would your perception shift if you saw yourself as a potent force for positive results, success and personal fulfilment? Imagine for a moment how empowered you’d feel if your mental and emotional energy could be channeled and directed towards your goals and dreams and aspirations? Imagine how different your life would be if you could shift your energy from fearing the future to a powerful belief in your ability to succeed?
The biggest emotion in creation is the bridge to optimism.
-?????? Brian May
The secret to re-calibrating your personal filtration system is to adopt a different set of emotional responses. Because the way you’ve learned to feel is the foundation for how you perceive your own personal reality. Change your emotional palette and your life will reflect your new emotional reactions.
Since most of our feelings were acquired during our earliest social contacts – through parents and family – it’s incredibly helpful to learn to take an objective view from this moment onwards about the way you’re thinking and feeling. As you detect any unhelpful thoughts or negative outbursts of emotion, you can begin the process of transformation by calming yourself and choosing the kind of feelings that will boost your confidence, creativity and sense of wellbeing.
As your new thoughts and feelings exercise their influence on your behaviour, you will also influence the way in which your personal data filtration system interprets the world around you. You’ll begin to notice things that have previously escaped your attention. You’ll pick up information that precisely reflects your new-found feelings of optimism. The world will start to reflect your new way of thinking and feeling. This creates a virtuous and positive feedback cycle that fuels and supports your new outlook. The surprising element to this exercise is that you’ll begin to see things that have always been there. Like a magic show, the truth is usually hidden in plain sight.
Studies have shown that 90% of error in thinking is due to error in perception. If you can change your perception, you can change your emotion and this can lead to new ideas.
-?????? Edward de Bono
Let today be the day when you embrace the kind of thoughts and feelings that lift your spirits and empower your actions. Notice the opportunities that are flowing around you. Celebrate your life and all the amazing people you know. Live into your potential and set yourself free from your limitations. When you adopt a more positive set of emotional responses, your life will move into a more positive way of expressing itself. Give yourself the best opportunities to fulfil your potential and start to live the life you’ve always dreamed of having.
Our mission and our daily motivation at The Wellness Foundation is to help you achieve your goals, fulfil your dreams and help you realise your ambitions.
If you found this timeless advice to be helpful, make a point of freeing yourself from the chains of your old and limiting perceptions. Embrace the most positive thoughts and feelings that you can muster. Make this your new habit and watch your life and your destiny unfold with a new and powerful, unstoppable sense of purpose.
It’s a moment of personal empowerment that could change your life forever.
In the meantime, please feel free to share this post. Encourage all of your family, your friends, colleagues and acquaintances to harness their deeper potential for a better and more successful way of experiencing and enjoying the gift of this life to the max.
It’s our intention to be a positive force for change in the world. Let’s help everyone to rise above their limitations and enjoy greater levels of freedom, happiness, inner calm and success in all areas of their lives.
Together, we really can make the world a better place.