Positive emotion aids good health while negative emotions destroys one’s health
Imagine a guy- call him John- who comes into his house fagged out, having worked all day. He lies on the couch and tells himself: “I just can’t see anybody anymore today; I have to get some rest”. But just then the doorbell rings. “Whose there?” he wearily calls out, almost angry. “It’s me Janet,” replies his fiancée. Mind you, John was tired all right and sure needs some rest. But could he be so tired to lock out his beloved fiancée? What do you think will happen? The guy most surely would jump up with a new gust of energy. All his tiredness disappears, his sweetheart is here! The point is this: at any point in time, we are actually in control of our emotions.
The human system runs on emotions. The nervous system in every human being is actually an electrical system that conducts small charges of electricity. Just think about that! As human being, we are wired up just like a building is wired. But if there is no electric power flowing through the cables in the building, no appliance would turn on. The lights are not going to come on, the stereo set would not come on, the TV would not work. So too is our physical system; it works with emotional energy. Understand that the flow of this energy or emotional power, largely determines our state in life. That is why it is important that we gain control of the flow of our emotional energy. Our emotions can be either positive or negative. We have to be able to identify which emotions are positive and which are negative, because negative emotions are destructive. It is very important that we are sensitive to our emotions.
When the human system is full of negative emotions it causes the body to malfunction. The gland releases hormones in excessive quantity. You would notice that the human system functions best when we run on positive emotions. “a merry heart”, the bible affirms , “does good like medicine”. Positive emotion aids good health while negative emotion destroys one’s health. When the glands secrete hormones in excessive quantity, the hormones begin to wash the lining of the stomach, run through the intestines and create ulcers and all kinds of problems. Truly, we thrive on positive emotions.
Some people do not even try to gain control over their emotions because they simply do not believe the emotions can be controlled. Some people can identify their negative emotions, but choose rather to avoid pain and by leaving their negative emotions to fester; ultimately they are hurt. Negative emotions are not altogether bad; they are just regulators if we can interrupt them accurately whenever they show up and become sensitive to them, they can actually be channeled to achieve positive things.
A negative feeling is a signal that something is wrong and that it requires attention. If you unconsciously touch a piece of electric wire that has live current in it, you would quickly withdraw your hand to escape death. Thank God for the nervous system and pain, without which you will not realize the need for you to withdraw your hand and stop the electrical process immediately. If it was not for pain for example, we would not realize the need for us to withdraw our hands or bodies form fire. So negative feelings are not altogether bad; they are regulators that help you realize when something is wrong.
FEELINGS CREATE MAGNETIC FIELDS
Feelings create magnetic fields around our lives. If you are science inclined, you must have been taught that there is a connection between electricity and magnetism, and that electric current sometimes, given the situation, creates magnetic fields. And since our nervous system is the human electrical system, when emotions run through our lives they create magnetic fields.
Every magnet has the power to attract and to repel. The kind of emotion that runs in your body will determine what you will attract and what you will repel if you allow negative emotions to run through your life, you will create a negative magnetic field around you and attract problems while repelling opportunities. “All the days of the afflicted are evil,” the bible says. Who is the afflicted but the person who is feeling sorrowful, frustrated, sad, depressed and disappointed? Many people think it is just natural for us to feel negative. They believe that circumstances are negative. They believe that circumstances always dictate our feelings. However, it does not work that way only. It is our feelings actually that determines our circumstances.
THE MEASURE OF YOUR EMOTIONAL STRENGTH
I like to put it this way: it is not because things are bad that you are sad; you are sad that is why things are bad. Take the control away from circumstances and put it on yourself. It is all about you. Some people would say, “Oh sure, when everything is working fine, I’ll be happy”. You cannot afford to wait until then, because things may not come better at all. Take control of your feelings and emotions. If your joy withers, everything else around your life dries up. Everything follows your emotions. “The joy of the Lord is your strength”.
The more joyful you are, the stronger you are. The less joyful you are, the weaker you are. It affects every area of your life. I like the way the following passage addresses the issue. “Because you did not serve the Lord your God with joy and gladness of heart, for the abundance of everything, therefore you shall serve your enemies, whom the Lord will send against you, in hunger, in thirst, in nakedness and in need of everything; and He will put a yoke of iron on your neck until He has destroyed you”.
Is that not terrible? Negative emotions attract poverty and repel prosperity. This text explains one of the causes of poverty. Blessings are reversed when there is joy. The text says that God himself will send those enemies ‘in hunger, in thirst’ (hunger and thirst sum up poverty). God even takes the poverty to a new degree: ‘in nakedness and in need of everything’.
I pray you will not lack. But the secret is to get excited; get enthusiastic about life. Take control of your emotions to your own advantage. That is why we cannot wait until circumstances change before we get excited. Our destinies are tired to our joy. We have to take control of our emotions because the state of our emotions determines the state of everything else around our lives. That you lost your job is no excuse for sadness. That things are not working is not a good reason to sorrow. There is an exciting passage that you should make your confession when things seem to look down. “Though the fig tree may not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines; though the labour of the olive may fail and the fields yield no food; thought the flock maybe cut off from the fold, and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength; he will make my feet like deer’s feet and He will make me walk on my high hills”.
KEYS TO TAKING CONTROL OF YOUR EMOTIONS
Key 1: Identify what you are really feeling:
Whatever emotions you are feeling has a name. You need to be conscious of your emotions and constantly seek to preserve a positive atmosphere around your life. God is spoken of in this wise, “in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore”.
Every being has an ideal environment where they function. Even God does. God thrives in an atmosphere of joy and celebration. The spirit of God is stifle in an atmosphere of grief, sorrow, bereavement and depression. He seeks to turn our mourning into dancing. Let us identify some negative emotions.
ANGER
We feel angry when we have been prevented from achieving a goal or our values and standards have been violated. While anger itself is not bad, I can easily spin out of control. Then it becomes destructive.
FEAR
There is natural fear, the one you feel if you come across a lion in the jungle. It causes a rush of adrenaline so you have the power to escape danger. But there is the negative emotion of fear. Fear of failure is perhaps the most people are familiar with. Another one is fear of criticism. Fear paralyzes initiative. Fear stifles the imagination. It kills creativity. So deal with fear. The bible says, “God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of sound mind”.
REJECTION
This is a feeling of defeat or resignation.
HURT
Hurt or pain usually comes from our human relationships.
GUILT
This is a feeling of remorse or regret over a particular action you have taken. Guilt is destructive. It kills. If you will overcome guilt, you have to learn forgiveness. You have to learn to receive forgiveness from God; you have to learn to forgive other people and you have to learn to forgive yourself.
DEPRESSION
This is when your emotion sinks low. You cannot be depressed and lifted at the same time.
GRIEF
This is a feeling or sense of loss or bereavement.
LONELINESS
Loneliness is the feeling of being alone without friends or companions.
ANXIETY OR WORRY
This is when you feel negative about something that has not happened. It is expecting the worst to happen.
KEY2: FIND OUT WHY YOU ARE FEELING THAT WAY
Do not go into mood swing without understanding why you went into a mood swing. Track the thought that triggered the emotion. Could it be a negative statement somebody made, or something negative that happened? Could it be something that is not even through yet? Finding out why you feel the way you feel helps a great deal. For a long time, I thought being a man meant not expressing one’s emotions and giving in to no sentiments at all. But let me share with you the story of a man who never lost single battle and was a warrior all his life. He was one of the greatest leaders of all time yet he cried when it was necessary to cry. His name was David, an ancient king of Israel.
I think real men express their emotions when it is necessary while still exercising control over it. When David was afraid, he said so. When he was angry, he said so. I think the key thing was that he was in touch with his emotions. Some of us avoid or pretend about our emotions as if they are not there until we suffer nervous breakdown. David asked a question; “Why are you cast down, oh my soul and why are disquieted within me? Hope in God for I shall yet praise Him for the help of his Countenance”.
You know some of us give into the weaknesses of our temperatures or personality types. Why worry upfront? People get all kinds of up-fronts. Some collect housing allowances, furniture allowance and like up front. Why go for worry allowance uo front? Why worry about something that has not yet happened? Jesus addresses that, when He admonished us not to worry about tomorrow; “sufficiency for the day is its own trouble”. He said tomorrow will take care of itself. He was saying that what looks like a problem to you today may have changed by the time tomorrow arrives. It will no longer be a problem. So why worry upfront?
KEY 3: PRAY, MEDIATE, AND GIVE THANKS TO CHANGE YOUR EMOTIONS
The first thing to do when your emotion take a tumble is to pray, “be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your request ne made known to God and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Finally brethren, whatever things are noble, whatever are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue, and if there is anything praise worthy, meditate on these things”.
These verses changed my life as a young man and they are still blessing to me. Be anxious for nothing, not over your marital situation, not over a child, not over your financial situation because it is when you lose your joy and your peace that the real problem begins. The first thing that would happen before God changes your circumstances is that He would change your emotions. For Him to try to put miracle in your life when you still negative magnetic field around your life would be difficult. A positive attitude is not a gift, it is a choice. Make that choice right now, to be happy no matter what.
KEY 4: TAKE ACTION
What should be our first action towards those who offend us? Forgive. Forgive the person who offended you. Jesus taught us to pray, “Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us”. Also forgive yourself if you are the one who offended God or if you are the one who offended yourself. Sometimes you break standards you set for yourself and you find it difficult to forgive yourself. I have already stated that negative emotions are not that bad, they are just signals to let you know that something is wrong. The second action is to love. Choose to walk in love. The third action is, get excited. Move on, sing and celebrate.
Positive emotions to encourage
1. Love: love is the primary nature of God.
2. Thanksgiving: an attitude of gratitude. Switch over to thanksgiving. Things are not as bad as you think. It is because you are still alive that you are complaining about not having money. If you were dead, even if someone gave you ten million dollars it would not matter. Thank God that you are alive.
3. Determination: there is power in a made up mind.
4. Faith: think only possibilities.
5. Flexibility: this is a very critical one you need to develop. It is the readiness to change it it’s not working the way you are doing it. If you do not allow yourself some flexibility, you will be frustrated almost every day of your life. Be the kind of person that is open to other ideas.
6. Vitality: This talks about your physical health. You must agree that your health affects your emotions. It is difficult to feel excited when you are sick. That is why it is good for you to maintain sound health, exercise, eat good food and feel good. More importantly, find time to rest and relax. If you deliberately do not find time to rest, you may soon be laid to rest.
7. The feeling of contribution: this last one is the ultimate. It is what you get when you add value to other people’s life. It is difficult to describe, but when you taste it, you would find out that money cannot buy it. There is no amount of money you would have in the world that can give you the kind of fulfillment you get when you add value to people and their lives change literally right before your eyes. It is awesome.
When you give, it is given back to you, “Good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over”. It is not so much the fame sometimes that is the by-products and not so much money or material things; though they are part of the by-products. It is rather the feeling that you have impacted another person’s life and that you made their day that is just so wonderful.
