Do You Control Your Emotions?

Do you control your emotions or let your emotions control you?

The American Heritage Science Dictionary defines emotions as follows: A psychological state that arises spontaneously rather than through conscious effort and is sometimes accompanied by physiological changes; a feeling.

I had occasion yesterday to observe what happens when we react to our emotions rather than choose how to respond to our feelings. The result was a heated exchange of emails that may have damaged or even ended a friendship.

And so it reminded me of the power of thought. Thoughts of course lead to feelings. Feelings create emotions and lead to actions. But when we react to our emotions, our thinking becomes muddled and our judgement clouded. We often say or do things we regret which begins a cycle of more unwanted thoughts and feelings. Law of attraction at work.

Becoming a victim of our emotions can quickly turn into a habit. And the path to inspired abundance is through the habit of choosing a response rather than the habit of reacting to an emotion.

That led me to find this quaint, dare I say "fun" video on controlling your emotions. It was produced by Coronet Instructional Films in 1950. I found it entertaining, yet at the same time there are still some very relevant points. What do you think? Any ideas about controlling your emotions that still hold water?

Part 2

How do I enjoy my life?

Do you ever have one of those days where you want to feel good, but things are going on that are or can easily drag you down? I'm having one of those days right now ... how do I enjoy my life today?

Let me explain...

The hard drive on my pc crashed on Saturday morning and I'm still waiting for the repair utility I'm running to complete its diagnostic and repair. Even though I knew better, I had not adequately backed up the majority of my key files, so it's making for some anxious moments. My whole business and my "life" are on that hard drive.

Whether or not the hard disk will be usable and its data fully recovered I do not yet know. The repair utility has been running for about 44 hours and counting, and it continues to move slowly through the damaged heads and sectors of the disk. I have no alternative but to allow the utility program to do its work, trust in the process, and await the outcome. It will be what it will be.

This is a perfect example of the type of situation where it is incumbent upon me to make a choice about whether or not I choose to let the circumstances ruin my day. And that leads me to ask a question: "With all of this PC drama hanging over my head, how do I set it aside and how do I enjoy my life as I work through my day today?"

I believe the way to enjoy my life is to stay "in the moment". That implies that my job is to see if I can remember that feeling of joy or bliss and recreate it again ... right now.

My job is not to "try" to remember as often as I can, nor is it to remember to do it again tomorrow and the day after. Neither of those examples is about this moment.

The only thing I must focus upon is connecting with the feeling of joy or bliss right now, regardless of what is going on. Regardless of the PC disk repair status.

It becomes a kind of internal game. "Am I able to feel joyous or happy right now? Great ... how about right now? And how about now? What about right now? And now?"

My intention is to live a life of inspired abundance. And the one thing I can control is what I choose to think and feel right now. There may be an external environent and set of circumstances all around me I can react to, but I always have a choice about how I react and where I choose to place my attention.

As for the PC disk repair, I'm curious to see how it will turn out and so that's the attitude I'm choosing to adopt. By focusing on feeling curious about the outcome instead of dreading a particular outcome, it's much easier for me to stay in the moment and feel good at the same time.

So, right now, as I'm writing this, I am enjoying myself immensely and I know the rest of the "stuff" will work itself out however it works itself out. My mind is on the one thing that matters, which is how I'm choosing to feel right now. And right now, I feel good. I am enjoying my life.

Happiness: You Are What You Think About

In reading an article today on The Wealthy Attitude Blog, entitled The Source of Happiness, I was reminded yet again that "you are what you think about".

The power of the mind is such a fascinating thing. And I get to be reminded of this whenever I choose to pay attention.

Here's a video by Shiv R. Jhawar that you may find quite helpful in understanding the concept of discovering the source of happiness.

For some reason, the html embed code keeps failing, so here's a direct link to the video:

http://video.google.ca/videoplay?docid=-1903432236998907448

We speak over and over about the power of our thoughts and the importance of our habits of thinking. Yet another example for us to ponder. We find happiness when we choose to be happy.

Visit my website for more thoughts, tools and techniques to discover the secret to happiness at http://www.inspiredabundance.com/.