Time Cannot Be Measured In Hours, Life Is Measured In Emotions
Life is measured in emotions; these are the moments when psychophysiological reactions act like sparks that give meaning to our existence. Joy, happiness, surprise, fear, sadness, astonishment, nostalgia… All these emotions, whether they have a positive or negative value, define who we are. They articulate our behavior and give meaning to everything we do.
Writer and activist Helen Keller rightly said that the most beautiful things in this world cannot be seen or even touched, they must be felt with the heart. She knew it perfectly well. Deaf and blind, she has learned to move around and understand her reality through this latent and invisible universe to which we do not always give the importance it deserves: sensations, connection, feelings …
Many times we read and hear that we as people are social beings and that our brain is a rational organ, a collection of interconnected cells and tissues that shape our thoughts, decisions and behaviors. However, the reality is different: we are emotional creatures and the only language our brain understands is that of emotions.
It makes us both wonderful and extremely complex. Understanding life from this perspective can help us gain more control over it and enjoy it more intensely.
Life is measured in emotions: times of joy, days of calm and times of sadness
Emotions guide our daily future in an infinite number of ways. These biological realities don’t just affect the way we feel physically, that heart that quickens when we fall in love, that stomach that hurts when we feel anxious. They also play a role in the way we think and act at times.
Life is measured in emotions because these are scores that put musical notes on each of our moments. Knowing how important these psychophysiological dimensions are is essential for our well-being. Why ? Because it allows us to understand that having greater knowledge and greater control over them will lead to our happiness or, on the contrary, to this suffering which becomes chronic. Let’s dig a little deeper into this topic.
Emotions tell us who we are and how our stories have affected us
Our existence is not woven only with threads of happiness. On this canvas which is specific to each of us, we also find, in abundance, the color of grief, loss and sadness. However, it is in this play of tones and contrasts that the true vital beauty (and resistance) resides.
A common characteristic of emotions is that they have the power to define our stories and the people we become. Let’s take an example to better understand this idea. A breakdown in marriage can create a permanent injury. A void through which our enthusiasm escapes and our hopes escape. This pain can become chronic, to the point of not being able to start new relationships.
These stories are frequent. On the other hand, other people show us a brighter emotional fabric, one where we distinguish resilience, the ability to surpass oneself, the desire to live, to feel, to have experiences … Life is measured in emotions . Even if some of them are painful, this suffering does not have to give a single color to our existence.
Well-being is feeling the right emotion at all times and knowing what to do with it
Les Greenbergs is a Canadian psychologist recognized as one of the creators of emotion-focused therapy. He tells us one thing in works like Emotion-focused Therapy : we people are always lost when it comes to emotions. We repress them, we push them aside, we don’t know what name to give them. Very often, we even let them get carried away without thinking about the consequences that this implies.
We need to understand that wellness is feeling the right emotion at the right time and then knowing what to do with it. But what does this mean? This means, for example, that when someone hurts me, I have the right to be angry. However, this anger should not make me react with violence, but rather with assertiveness and accuracy.
It also implies that when faced with a situation of change and uncertainty, it is normal to be afraid and to feel anxious. We have to accept these emotions and think of them as logical and normal things. Understanding these principles of psychological health will undoubtedly allow us to cope better with each situation and personal circumstance.
Life is measured in emotions: never stop learning from it
Life is not measured in time but in emotions, in moments of happiness, melancholy, hope, joy but also sadness. We are what happened to us but, above all, what we felt during each of these experiences. This is what makes us unique.
Each person is also defined by each fear overcome, each sadness healed, each rage erased by forgiveness and each dream conquered with success and happiness.
It is true that we have left a lot behind us. However, what we have in front of us draws new opportunities and new moments on the horizon that will continue to make us feel emotions. Because that is what it is all about: living each day with the greatest possible emotion.
Our thoughts Emotional sponges are those people who, endowed with exceptional empathy, absorb the emotions of those around them.
