Positive Emotions: How to Take Advantage of Our Emotions

Emotions are a part of every human’s life. Some people are more logical and detached than others, but they still experience emotions. Others do not know how to process the feelings they are experiencing. Positive emotions are emotions that leave us feeling warm and fuzzy inside. However, we think of negative emotions more powerfully because our bodies produce stronger chemicals when we are fearful or angry. Because of this, it is necessary for us to take advantage of the positive emotions we experience on a day-to-day basis.

Emotions, both positive and negative, affect the way we view relationships, parenting, work and even ourselves. You exude the emotion you are experiencing by the energy you project to those around you. Positive emotions are very beneficial to all human beings.

Benefits of Positive Emotions

Personal Growth

According to Barbara Fredrickson, developer of The Broaden and Build Theory says, “positive emotions broaden people’s thought-action repertoires and enables the effective building of personal resources, including physical, intellectual, social, and psychological resources.” When a person embraces positive emotions in their life, they are more likely to want more for themselves.

A person who embraces their positive emotions is open to new experiences and ideas. This can be in the form of career development or meaningful relationships. He or she embraces change and welcomes challenges that see him or her transform into a new person.

Lower Stress Levels

A person in touch with their positive emotions approaches challenges from a comfortable position. They can cope with most situations calmly and with an open mind. The person asks, “what can I do to make this better for me?” They can assess the problem and see if they can tackle it alone or if they will need to talk to someone else. Positive emotions relax your body and help you cope with stressful situations. They condition the mind to not only focus on the bad side of things, but also consider the good.

Performance and Engagement

When a person lets positive emotions flow through them, inspiration and creativity become possible. They can do their work better and will even go above and beyond their recommended tasks. They will not be lured into disagreements and conflicts by people who are ruled by negativity. They are an example to everyone they work with because of the work they produce. These types of people are pleasant to be around as the conversations they bring to the table are informative and full of life. For people in the arts, the music, paintings, writing they produce (among other forms of art) can exude positivity.

Improved Decision Making

Serenity and joy can inspire a person to make better and healthier life choices. This person no longer takes unnecessary risks in their lives. They are more focused on bettering their life because they are hopeful for the future. They make changes like eating healthy, exercising, avoiding drugs and alcohol, and cutting off people who are bringing the pain. A person experiencing positive emotions finds more than one solution to their predicaments as they see things.

Strengthens Old Relationships and Helps Build New Ones

No one wants to hang around someone who is moody and sad all day. People are attracted to others with positive energy and who tend to give them chances over those with negative emotions. That is why researchers insist on smiling at strangers. In the workplace, you are more likely to be placed in a team if you are positive. For parents, children pick up on your energy. Positive parents tend to have a loving and trusting relationship with their children as compared to those who ignore and demean theirs.

10 Positive Emotions You Should Experience Daily

Joy

Joy is a positive emotion characterized by happiness and exhilaration due to success, health, and good fortune. It is the feelings deep down that make the stimulant (the thing that brings you joy) feel even better. Doing something you enjoy can bring you joy.

Gratitude

When a person is grateful, they appreciate or give thanks when they receive something or for what they have. It may be a physical gift or something that happens to you. It is essential to revere small blessings and gifts that have been given to us by God, the universe and even other people. This should be a practice that people adopt more often.

Serenity

This is a positive emotion that people experience when they are at peace and are contented. They feel secure, comfortable and safe with low amounts of effort. When you acknowledge the feeling, you increase its significance in your life and the moment lasts longer.

Interest

When a person finds something that they like, they pursue it. It may be to gain knowledge or to satisfy a personal need.  Nevertheless, the more curiosity you show in something you are interested in, the more you are encouraged to keep exploring. You will be more inspired and more likely to go out of your way to achieve success and accomplish expertise. This is what builds careers and relationships

Hope

Hope is like the last layer of any multilayer entity. It is what remains when every other positive emotion goes away. It is what keeps people going when they want to give up so badly. It encourages you to be resilient even if you don’t know what the future holds. It may be the only defense against spiraling into negativity.

Pride

This positive emotion is not to be confused with the negative feeling of self-importance. Here someone feels happy when they have accomplished something society deems an achievement. You can also feel proud of your self-improvement initiatives. What gives you pride is owning your strengths and appreciating where you have come from.

Amusement

Amusement is a light-hearted positive emotion that allows you to enjoy good things. It is what enables you to laugh and enjoy good conversations with people. It is a welcome distraction from serious issues happening in the world all the time.

Inspiration

Inspiration enables you to learn from what you see around you and help you recreate something that embodies your personality. It is a positive emotion that allows one to grow their goals and work towards achieving them. One can use inspiration to get out of a rut and comfort zones and aspire to do better.

Awe

It is the ability to experience wonder and admiration for things that you see in nature or other people. Certain people make fantastic music and art that makes you overwhelmed by the talent and wonder on what prompted such greatness. It can also trigger inspiration in you when you take in other forms of art.

Love

It is one of the most recognized positive emotions. Love is spread out in little pieces among the other nine emotions and is perhaps the hardest to describe. It can be defined as an intense emotion toward someone or something. It can also be the reason you would put someone else’s needs above your own (sacrifice). When people remember that they are all humans, they tend to show love to those afflicted by a problem. In the physical body, love occurs around the chest area with the expansion of the heart, and a lump in the throat or softening behind the eyes.

How to Take Advantage of Positive Emotions

Image: CC0 Creative Commons, bearinthenorth, via Pixabay

To take full advantage of the range of positive emotions you are experiencing, take them as resource builders. Take the emotion that you are experiencing and think of what attention it is trying to draw to you and what your response is going to be. Positive emotions are unique because they point out when things are going well for us, or we can be better if we change something in us. This is a clear opportunity for you to examine what you need to do to either keep winning or what you need to do so that you can start winning.

It triggers a call to action in our minds as to what could make us reach our goal or real potential. For example, when you are in a tough situation and are experiencing hope as the positive emotion. The emotion is drawing attention to what is going wrong in your life presently. It then encourages you to think of possible solutions that can help you get out of that negative space. It is like Newton’s third law of motion that states for every action, there is an equal but opposite reaction. The situation may be negative but what positive and consistent actions can help you come out of the negative situation?

Conclusion

Finally, positive emotions can coincide with negative emotions. You may be sad but still be able to experience awe when you see a rainbow. The difference between a positive person and a negative one is that the positive thinker looks beyond the bad situations around them. They then look for solutions and try to change the negative position to a positive one. Knowing how to take advantage of positive emotions will help you capitalize on the moments you experience positive emotions. You can also be able to increase the opportunities of positivity and its duration.