How much attention do you pay to your emotions? Are you aware when your mood shifts from the positive emotions you started your day with and indulges the negative emotions that were bubbling beneath the surface? Do you take the anxiety, stress, and negativity from your workday home to your family life?
Do you carry the stress of your home life into your job? No one is perfect, we all do this on some level. Wouldn't it be nice if we could embrace those positive emotions and keep a hold of them for longer than normal? Wouldn't it be nice if we could enjoy the freedom that those positive emotions provide us with? It would be nice.
The question is what are the five most freeing positive emotions? Let's discuss each of them in turn.
#1. Love
Love is one of the most frequently felt emotions that humans experience. Perhaps because there are so many different types of love. You can love romantically, you can love platonically, you can love with empathy and you can love unconditionally. You might love your friend, partner, pet, children, a type of food, or even an actress from the sitcom you love. We love in all different ways.
If we want to look at an exact definition of love it would probably boil down to a shared experience of positive emotions with someone we care deeply for. Those moments let you know they care about you and they let them know you care about them. You have a shared interest in your wellbeing and happiness.
The love between two people (whether romantic or otherwise) requires caring, intimacy, and trust. How frequently do you experience a feeling of love? If you can, focus on creating moments of love for the next week.
#2. Serenity
Serenity. The contentment you feel when life is just right. Like an easy Sunday morning where you wake when your body is fully rested, you enjoy a quiet breakfast with your family, and then spend the day relaxing.
Serenity can be defined differently depending on your personality. The beauty of serenity as a positive emotion is that it encourages people to savor the moment. It encourages you to evaluate your priorities. It inspires you to search for a more profound understanding of self. It's fair to say that few emotions are more freeing than serenity.
#3. Awe
What greater freeing emotion is there than awe? The sense of feeling connected to something bigger than you are. Something grandiose, beautiful, or good, whether it's a clear sky covered in stars or an old tree so tall you struggle to see the top of it. The world offers us so much to be in awe of, but it's not often we take the time to be truly awestruck.
Over the next week, I would encourage you to embrace moments of awe as often as they are presented to you. Do not underestimate just how freeing awe can be when you stop and take a moment to show respect. It's an excellent way to transform your view of the universe, as well as your place in it.
#4. Hope
Hope. The emotion that you feel when you can look beyond the difficult times and see a bright future up ahead. While hope might be accompanied by a touch of sadness or perhaps fear, it pushes you to keep moving forward. What is more freeing than chasing a beautiful future?
#5. Inspiration
When you see others living authentically does it inspire you to do the same? Whether you witness a display of mastery or an act of moral character, inspiration is what helps you connect to the greatness in others. That in and of itself is inspiring for you to find your own greatness. What is more freeing than being inspired to embrace authenticity?
