After seeing the possibilities that EFT has to offer, I’ve really started to dive into it with a passion.
The EFT Discovery Statement is as follows:
“The cause of all negative emotions is a disruption in the body’s energy system.”
[from The EFT Manual]
My question:
How would you define a negative emotion?
The easy answer, of course, is to list those emotions that are commonly labeled bad:
- Anger
- Depression
- Fear
- Anxiety
- Grief
But why are they bad? Anger could be bad if it’s used as a reason to harm someone, but could be a good thing if it lights our fire and pushes us to make changes in our lives.
Fear could be bad if you don’t want to ask for a raise that you think you deserve, but could be a good thing if you are standing in the middle of a street and a bus is headed for you.
Anxiety, depression, grief? In and of themselves, I don’t see any good in them, except as signals that there’s something in our lives that’s not working, which prompts us to change it.
I spent a long time trying to kill off my emotions – one of my childhood heroes was Mr. Spock (not the doctor, the Mister). Control and elimination of all emotions was the goal.
And then I wonder why I spent so many years being screwed up? 
Most of the 90’s (and some of the 00’s) were like a really long Pon Farr period (OK, I’m done with the geek references now).
My Own Answer
Today, my answer to the question would be that there is no such thing as a “negative” emotion.
It’s what we do with them that matters.
If it’s an emotion that is driving us to do something that we don’t want to do, like a phobia or an addiction, then it’s best to diffuse it (more on that later).
For now, what’s your take on negative emotions?
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Lyman,
Great post! People have such a tendency to feel defined either by our emotions or by the actions that we end up taking as a result of our emotions. In all actuality, our conscious decision about how to handle those emotions is the ONLY thing that matters.
Emotions themselves are powerless, yet their impact on us can be ALL powerful – it’s up to us!
Thanks, Aaron! I remember reading somewhere that it’s like a sailboat in the water – our conscious, rational mind is like the sailor, and our emotions are like the wind in the sails. If the sailor lets go of the sails… well, that boat is going to have some problems! But without the wind, it will go nowhere.
I went through a looonnnggg period of avoiding emotional pain. It was quite a breakthrough when I finally got mostly over it. Now I tend to look at emotions as a feedback mechanism, kind of like you describe in your sailboat analogy.
That’s what’s working best for me as well, Rick… using them rather than trying to kill them off. I guess there is a point when they would become what I would call “negative” – when they move over that line and start to doing the controlling themselves (as in hurricane rocking that sailboat).