The root of all the problems in the world is people’s inability to deal with emotions. Individuals who have self-awareness are able to identify what they’re feeling, the emotion that drives it, and channel their actions in a positive direction, people who aren’t comfortable dealing with emotions often do things like:
- Hurt themselves or others.
- Lash out in anger.
- Go numb because they don’t want to feel anything.
- Watch as horrible things happen to others.
- Seek revenge or retribution.
- Wish awful things to happen to others.
- Create roadblocks and make life difficult for others.
- Become withdrawn or depressed.
- Sabotage themselves or others.
- Turn to drugs and alcohol to escape what they’re feeling.
- Be aggressive toward others to protect their soft insides.
- Refuse to connect meaningfully with others because it might expose them to feeling something.
- Accept negative relationships as normal.
- Accept violence and chaos as normal.
- Live in fear.
It’s not that people want to do these things, it’s just that their families, friends, societies, and they themselves have grown to believe that this is the only available option. What they may not realize is that they don’t have to live this way, they can actually build self-awareness, get in touch with their emotions, and do things like:
- Treat themselves and others well.
- Focus on being joyful.
- Actively work on experiencing what’s going on inside them.
- Help other people.
- Forgive.
- Wish for good things to happen to others.
- Make life easier for others.
- Step out of their shell.
- Do things to help themselves and others succeed.
- Experience what’s inside themselves and seek counseling for anything that’s leading them in a negative direction.
- Be caring toward others.
- Let people into their lives and show their real selves.
- Strive to build positive relationships.
- See kindness and peace as normal.
- Live with courage.
For every negative approach to dealing with emotions there is a positive counterpart. The key to creating a better world is for people to have the self-awareness to realize when they’re feeling something, identify the emotion beneath it, and deal with it in a positive way. As human beings, we’ve become very skilled at coping with emotions (and the way they make us feel) in profoundly negative ways. The irony is that we can move in a positive direction any time we choose and build a world that benefits everyone.
By the way, if you’re thinking that this type of approach is unrealistic or impossible, you’re behaving like the people in the first list. In order to create a more emotionally healthy world, it’s important to first acknowledge that something is askew and then take conscious steps to move down a different path.
What will you do to develop self-awareness and deal positively with your emotions?
Cheers,
Guy