5.01.2011

Entailing: It's No Straight Line

We, as humans, experience an extensive range of emotions.

Sometimes we get so angry we want to scream as loud as we can, throw something across the room, punch a wall.

Sometimes we get so sad we want to lay in bed all day long, don't want to talk to anyone, cry until there is nothing left to cry.

Sometimes we are so happy we can't stop smiling, you want to tell everyone how happy you are, nothing can bring us down.

Sometimes we are so confused we want to forget all about it and walk away or ask "why?" to anyone we think might have an answer.

Sometimes we are so bothered we want to turn break our phonesfade away from society, and live in the wilderness.

Sometimes we are so excited we can't sleeptime seems to move slowly, stomach knotting.

Sometimes we are so disappointed we can't look someone in the eyes, we can't look at someone the same, can't let it go.

Sometimes we are so scared we want to hide under the bed, run away, act like nothing is wrong.

Sometimes we are so in love we can't imagine our lives without that person, we want to show them off to the world, we want to hold tight and never let go.

No matter who you are, no matter how proud you make yourself out to be, you are able to experience emotion; you feel.

There are days where we feel like we could conquer the world, and then there are days where it feels like the world has conquered us.

There are days where you want to clean everything in sight, and days where you want to throw everything on the ground til' the floor can no longer be seen.

There are days where you want to reach out to everyone you know, ask them how they're doing, and offer a helping hand, and there are days where you don't want to socialize with anyone and just be by yourself.

There are days where you are motivated and get things done, and days where you do absolutely nothing.

No matter who you are, you've had good days, and bad days, and a line of 'ok' days.

There are good moments, good days, good weeks, good months, and good years.

Same goes for bad ones.

In Common Market's, Tobacco Road, a lyrics states, "They say life is what you make it, but really life is what makes you".

I believe in this statement.

People say, "Whatever happens, happens." Or, "Just let it be/play out." There is only so much of life that is in our control.

It's commonly and frequently said, "It's not what happens, it's how you react." There is a student upset about a B on a test, while a cancer patient is positive about their diagnosis. How's that for reaction control?

But

Life is tough. And incredibly circumstantial. I understand that.

There are moments we handle better than others, moments we wished we could have handled better, and ones we don't care too much about.

Human nature causes us to react instantaneously upon an sudden emotion.

Human logic causes us to think instantaneously before irrationally reacting upon a sudden emotion.

Human nature finds the difficulty to react solely with human logic.

Human logic leads to the discovery that it just takes practice.

Human nature frustrates over imperfection and stresses over mistakes.

Human logic knows acknowledges the nonexistence of perfection and executes mistakes as fuel to learn.

The beauty of emotion is that it's always changing. Why is it a good thing? It's kind of like, "You don't know what you've got til' it's gone".. How can you appreciate being happy if you've never been sad.. Understand?

Society places some sort of restrictions on who can feel what emotion, or rather show it.

A man has to be a man: No tears, nothing but strength and the answers to everything. He cannot be whipped, he cannot be sensitive. Why? They have feelings too.

A woman should not be angry. She is expected to be constantly nurturing and kind. She must do it all and do it without feeling stressed. Why? They have feelings too.

Each emotion is part of our natural human characteristics; although, don't let them become your only characteristics. Control your emotions, don't let them control you.
  • Jealousy: A natural human emotion, but its a personal level emotion, meaning you control to what level you allow it to go to; you control how you handle it. No one else- just you.
  • Anger: We become angry sometimes, but don't posses the anger characteristic. There is a difference between, being angry and being an angry person. Being angry is situational, being an angry person is a characteristic.
  • Vengeance: We have the natural tendency to want to get even with someone who has hurt us; plot it in your head, but never carry it out. The best revenge is none at all. Don't give someone the satisfaction of evoking such hateful emotions out of you, you're better than that.
  • Hate: Hate things, not people. Things are inanimate, no chance at emotion; people have stories, things you may , things you  may not know; reasons they may act the way they do. Be fair.
  • Brokenness: Getting hurt is inevitable. Allow it to run its course, then conquer it. Don't trap yourself in a rut.
  • Betrayal: Another inevitable emotion. The harsh reality, not everyone acts in the best interest of everybody else. We are victims and convicts of betrayal. Be sensitive when someone thinks you've betrayed them and be open minded and understanding when you think someone has betrayed you.
  • Bitterness: Being bitter only hurts you. The longer you hold on to something, the longer you hold a grudge, the more miserable you make life for yourself.
 
I've heard that being happy isn't stopping to think if you are. I don't think that could be any more true. Happiness, is. It just happens when you stop trying to make it happen. It's like growing your hair, when you try to grow it and take tons of vitamins and use special shampoos, it doesn't grow; the second you stop thinking about it, it grows.

So basically, negative emotions come, but we control when they go. We have to welcome the positive emotions, let them come in, and encourage them to stay. If we learn to prevent negative emotions from lingering, the longer the positive emotions remain.

Practice makes perfect? Eh, probably not. There will always be ups and downs, we cannot prevent the downs and we cannot perfect the ups.

But, that's ok.

Without the ups and downs, we'd be living a straight line of emotion, and how boring would that be?