To Feel or Not to Feel

Emotions are an interesting thing – at least they are for me.

In business, I am really good (not to toot my own horn, but just ask somebody) at taking the emotion out of a situation. I can get individuals or a group of people back on track, focused on facts, business results, logical outcomes, etc.; all the time not negating their emotions associated with the topic or task (just redirecting). At work, I can easily extract the emotion from a situation and help others get aligned, even if and when emotions are ever changing.

In my personal life, I have a ‘love – hate’ relationship with emotions. I wouldn’t refer to my emotions as an enemy; however the logical, practical, thinking side of me questions them. I recently told Bill (my sweetheart) that I was wondering if I living in an alternate universe based on the highs I was feeling. I mean, really!?! In my nearly 40 years, I had yet to experience such a high, high, for so long…couldn’t be real?!

We all know our feelings change. Think of any one long-term relationship in your life (maybe a parent, your significant other, a sibling, a child, etc.). When you think of that relationship over the years, I am sure there are stories that come to mind where s/he made you laugh hysterically, or really pissed you off, or hurt your feelings (just to name a few). There is a whole spectrum of emotions we can feel on any given day. Heck, I can go through ten different emotions before I leave for work in the morning. Emotions lift us up and they let us down. Our highs don't last indefinitely, and our lows are painful. One might conclude emotions are unreliable; just ask anyone who has fallen in love or had a broken heart – talk about the roller coaster of emotions.

The truth is, emotions motivate us to take action. They call us to engage the mind and to make decisions on what needs to be done. A key challenge is understanding (many times in hindsight) when we are making a wise or foolish decision(s). Negative and positive emotions are morally neutral.

It is what we do in response to our emotions that leads to the infamous “good or bad” or “right or wrong.” Negative emotions call for positive action. Positive emotions call us to celebrate. Take time to listen to your emotions.