How The EMOTIONAL GUIDANCE SCALE Can Help You Feel Better
This shared posting is not an original thought of mine. It’s taken from some writings that I treasure, and often go back to time and time again. There are many authors of this or something similar, but it all pretty much comes down to the same concept;
We have a range or scale or ladder of EMOTIONS that we are capable of experiencing. And it’s really helpful to be able to identify where we are “at” at any given time, so that we can place ourselves on this scale. Context is often useful in knowing where we’ve been and where we’d like to be heading.
Take a moment. Pause. Which of these emotions listed below, best describe how you are feeling right now, this very moment?
- Joy/Knowledge/Empowerment/Freedom/Love/Appreciation
- Passion
- Enthusiasm/Eagerness/Belief
- Positive Expectation/Belief
- Optimism
- Hopefulness
- Contentment
- Boredom
- Pessimism
- Frustration/Irritation/Impatience
- Overwhelment
- Disappointment
- Doubt
- Worry
- Blame
- Discouragement
- Anger
- Revenge
- Hatred/Rage
- Jealousy
- Insecurity/Guilt/Unworthiness
- Fear/Grief/Depression/Despair/Powerlessness
Once you’ve identified which emotion best represents your current state, you can reach for a feeling that is improved. Aim for thoughts that make you feel just a bit higher on the scale, like moving from Blame to Doubt, or Disappointment… that gets you heading in the direction of ‘feeling better’. And one step, or a couple, is much easier to achieve than a huge leap all at once.
It’s a process of thinking a thought, any thought, and then consciously evaluating whether the new thought gives you any feeling of relief from where you were before that new thought. So you think and feel and think and feel, with one intention only; to feel even the slightest bit of relief. To feel better!