There is endless power withing the many chambers of the human heart. Being ignorant of the potency of your emotional life is great folly.
Happiness does great good. It showers those around you with joy, helping them see the blessings that put you in your buoyant mood.
Beware. Irresponsible happiness can make you ignore the suffering of others, estranging them in their time of need.
Sadness does great good. It demonstrates the value of what has been lost, teaches smallness, and is one of the tenderest moments of humanity.
Beware. Irresponsible sadness can make you ignore the blessings that exist in the world, even in the midst of your time of need.
Anger does great good. Pious indignation at injustice is a powerful catalyst for change, empowering the angry and intimidating the wrong doer.
Beware. Irresponsible anger can turn you into a monster, wrecking harmful havoc in the lives of those around you.
Sympathy does great good. It develops our ability to learn from other people, as well as offering them emotional respite.
Beware. Irresponsible sympathy can soften your ability to criticize what is actually wrong.
Excitement does great good. It heightens the energy of situations, galvanizing them, making them more powerful and intense.
Beware. Irresponsible excitement can distract you from things that are actually important and can force events that should not yet happen to prematurely occur.
Calm does great good. It smooths out the human experience, and softens the senses to the point where they can perceive subtle truths.
Beware. Irresponsible calm can cause you to ignore the pressing issues in your life, lazily letting you fail to act when you need.
Courage does great good. It empowers you to act when you would otherwise hesitate.
Beware. Irresponsible courage can lead you to ignore your own well being and resort to unnecessary means.
Fear does great good. It fills your blood with power and allows you to act in a powerful way, manifesting your most basic desires.
Beware. Irresponsible fear can paralyze a person beyond action, or worse, strike out against false foes.
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3 comments:
Excellent comparisons, but not complete by any means. There are more manifestations to these emotions than the two each mentioned here.
For example, pious indignation is not the only positive response coming from anger. Remember, it is an important factor in the grieving process.
In truth, emotions are relative beasts, are they not?
Oh, not at all complete, fo sho! Emotions are of my favorate thing to talk about, in all their subtle detail.
And yes, it really just depends on how they manifest. I think there are definitly light and dark emotions...
But light and dark aren't good and bad, no matter how many metaphors or fantasy stories make that connection. Even though I'd class anger, sadness, and fear as dark, there'd be no way I'd want to live without them.
(I will say anger is one I don't do much, probably because it was modeled so poorly in the early stages of my life...)
I value anger because I too experience it rarely, but it tends to be a good processor for me. And I am smart enough not to let it take me over.
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