Tapsearch Com EditorControl and Prevention leads to Emotional Well-being
Link: www.therationale.com
By Ray Tapajna, editor and artist at Tapart News and Art that Talks based on notes from Father McQuade SJ JCU Personality and Character course Sooner or later we find emotional outbursts and a hot temper does not really match up with our life ideal. In any review of our emotions, we find that the word -control- should be our goal in controlling our tempers and emotional outbursts. It is impossible to eliminate emotions but it is possible to control them. Those who have had a contemplative experience will tell us control is possible. They simply realize it is best to pursue most anything guided by reason and most of the time have to go forward depending on faith alone.
We know it is much easier to be told to do something we love to do rather than be told to do something we hate to do. We find our quest much easier if we go forth with an emotion of kindliness rather than the emotion of objection.
However, the history of the ancient philosophers and the ascetics of the early church made the mistake of trying to eliminate emotions, but experience soon proved this was an impossible task. Those who sought perfect love realized that emotions are part of the search. The practice of charity or friendship would be a pale image of the real thing without emotions. All the beauty of family life would be strange without the emotion. Any father or grandfather who is deeply hugged by their daughter or grandaugther know that emotions can stir love, hope and courage in meeting the challenges of life - or even death.
This stirring process can lead us to control those emotions that lead us away from love, hope and courage. Controlling our emotions can provide us with a preventive way to stop our emotions before they explode. Some outlet of activity can help in the process. A brisk walk, for example, may work off the effects of anger. A walk can even temper the bodily physical responses.
It comes down to looking calmly at life , trying to understand situations instead of getting upset about it. In doing this, we set ourselves free from pathological behavior. The bodily resonances simple does not subside at the order of the will. A reasonable action must first take place. We can train ourselves to control our emotions and the best possible way is most likely doing it in a preventative mode jelling all our past and present stimuli in a reasoned fasthion. We know what happened when we ignore what is the right thing to do in the past and can change our patterns in a resonable fashion.
