The Purpose of Emotions: Understanding Our Inner Landscape

This year I struggled emotionally. I struggled with an overwhelming surge of anxiety, stress and feelings of hopelessness. These emotions impacted my thought patterns and thus my behaviour turned destructive to myself.

Even though at the time it felt as if my emotions were ruling my days, on reflection I can understand the vital purpose in which these emotions served. They informed me that something was wrong and that I needed support. Without the prompting, I would have had a serious struggle on my hands, so for that I am grateful.

Emotions are sensations that have different purposes. Positive emotions often indicate alignment with our values and desires. Negative emotions can highlight areas of discomfort or conflict. Here are just a few of how different emotions serve us in daily life experiences.

• Happiness encourages human connection and fosters closeness.

• Suprise focuses our attention on something specific, preparing us for action that best suits the situation.

• Anger signals a wrongdoing where our values or morals have been crossed.

• Fear indicates harm or danger

• Guilt facilitates forgiveness and reflection

• Sadness signals that we are hurting and need comfort.

(note: sometimes we can skew the meaning of emotions becuase our experiences and thoughts have created distortions towards them.)

Emotions are vital indicators for everyday survival. Learning to embrace the true purpose of emotion and see them as essential tools rather than hindrances or states to avoid is of great benefit.

My emotional understanding is constantly growing and with guidance, I can step back from emotional overwhelm and value the meaning of why the emotion is present. Sometimes all an emotion needs is space to be.

Some emotions might feel uncomfortable and sometimes unbearable but they always pass. There is always time to reflect later and when they next come around you will have a better understanding of why. This will help to mould your behaviour and actions into something more effective for the future.