Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Your Emotional Guidance Scale

Your Emotional Guidance Scale
(From Ask and It Is Given: Learning to Manifest Your Desires)
 
A scale of your emotions might look like this:

1.       Joy/ Knowledge/ Empowerment/ Freedom/ Love/ Appreciation
2.       Passion
3.       Enthusiasm/ Eagerness/ Happiness
4.       Positive Expectation/ Belief
5.       Optimism
6.       Hopefulness
7.       Contentment
8.       Boredom
9.       Pessimism
10.     Frustration/ Irritation / Impatience
11.     “Overwhelment”
12.     Disappointment
13.     Doubt
14.     Worry
15.     Blame
16.     Discouragement
17.     Anger
18.     Revenge
19.     Hatred/ Rage
20.     Jealousy
21.     Insecurity/ Guilt / Unworthiness / Fear / Grief / Depression / Despair / Powerlessness

Emotions are signals for us to pay attention to where we are on the scale. The real mid-point is at #7, Contentment. The ones below contentment signal a level of dissatisfaction with where and how we are in life. Most of us spend way too much time in emotions that are less than who we were meant to be.

So, take a few minutes to tune into how you are FEELING. What emotion (or emotions) is/are present? What is it signaling you to do -- think or act?

I'm noticing my "default" emotion is often irritation. I get irritated with drivers who change lanes suddently, or who fly up on the left when the right lane is supposed to be for passing. This irritation is signaling me to notice a few things:
  • Maybe I'm paying more attention to others' behavior, rather than my own. In this case, I ask myself, "How do _I_ drive? Am I driving too fast?" Then it's time to slow down. (What's my real hurry, anyway?)
  • Irritation is a form of anger, which is often a secondary emotion (this isn't on the above chart, but it's based on the experiences I've had). Anger is sometimes disguised fear and/or sadness. In this case, when I'm irritated with another driver, it's because I'm afraid they might cause an accident. (Now, THAT would ruin my day, wouldn't it?!)
The point of having the scale is to notice what emotion is coming up, evaluate it in relationship to what is going on and then CHOOSE to act/feel differently. Which requires that we understand that even our emotional state can be a choice. We can choose to stay in it or we can choose to shift out of it.

So the next time your feelings are less-than-desirable, decide what you WANT to feel and take steps toward making that happen.

Let me know how it goes!

Dr. Suzan
    
 
 

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