All Emotions Are Natural
Let's say you start to brainstorm a list of all the emotions you've ever experienced.
Just for fun, try it now.
What's on your list? Chances are, you included things like happy, sad, excited,
angry, afraid, grateful, proud, scared, confused, stressed, relaxed, amazed. Now sort
your list into two categories — positive emotions and negative emotions.
Feeling both positive and negative emotions is a natural part of being human. We
might use the word "negative" to describe more difficult emotions, but it doesn't
mean those emotions are bad or we shouldn't have them. Still, most people would probably
rather feel a positive emotion than a negative one. It's likely you'd prefer to feel
happy instead of sad, or confident instead of insecure.
What matters is how our emotions are balanced — how much of each type of
emotion, positive or negative, we experience.
How Negative Emotions Help Us
Negative emotions warn us of threats or challenges that we may need to deal with.
For example, fear can alert us to possible danger. It's a signal that we might need
to protect ourselves. Angry feelings warn us that someone is stepping on our toes,
crossing a boundary, or violating our trust. Anger can be a signal that we might need
to act on our own behalf.
Negative emotions focus our awareness. They help us to zero in on a problem so
we can deal with it. But too many negative emotions can make us feel overwhelmed,
anxious, exhausted, or stressed out. When negative emotions are out of balance, problems
might seem too big to handle.
The more we dwell on negative emotions, the more negative we begin to feel. Focusing
on negativity just keeps it going.
How Positive Emotions Help Us
Positive emotions balance out negative ones, but they have other powerful benefits,
too.
Instead of narrowing our focus like negative emotions do, positive emotions
affect our brains in ways that increase our awareness, attention, and memory.
They help us take in more information, hold several ideas in mind at once, and understand
how different ideas relate to each other.
When positive emotions open us up to new possibilities, we are more able to learn
and build on our skills. That leads to doing better on tasks and tests.
People who have plenty of positive emotions in their everyday lives tend to be
happier, healthier, learn better, and get along well with others.