Main Function
Emotions are a gift and central to our relationships. They help us make decisions, be motivated and express our values. They can be a warning to show us there is an issue to address, they enable us to heal, are a part of how we engage with the world around us and outwardly express what is within. They reveal what you love, fear and trust. The emotion of pleasure tells you what you love the most. Emotions are meant to be a guide and serve you. You are not meant to serve your emotions.
How It Works
Thoughts drive our emotions. Out of our hearts we feel then speak. If we serve our emotions, we can vacillate based on every situation we encounter. Emotions are designed to serve us well with right thinking and good health. Emotions are deeply tied to several things such as our values, what we believe as well as our endocrine and gut health. The endocrine system produces hormones which regulate mood. In the digestive system, stomach and intestinal distress impact our emotions as well through the gut-brain axis. It is true that as a man thinks, so he is and a man is what he eats. Food is life on many levels.
Cause of Weakness
Issues with our emotional life can result from adrenal fatigue, disrupted hormone production, poor diet and lack of exercise. However, to quote Robin Braun in her book Thrive, "Medical science has confirmed that more than 80% of disease is rooted in problems of subconscious belief systems. If we are only conscious of about 5% of the 60,000 thoughts we think every day, then our life is guided by our subconscious. If our past is wrought with trauma, abuse and pain, our subconscious belief systems about ourselves will be dominated by self-hate, low self-esteem, bitterness, resentment, blame, self-pity, jealousy, anger, fear and other forms of these emotions. We become what we think."
There is also an element of quantum physics involved with emotions as they vibrate at different frequencies, either high or low, and like attracts like. "Peace and joy vibrate high, worry and doubt vibrate low. What we think and the emotional state we are in create a vibration/frequency that attracts things in our lives accordingly. In other words God wired our brains for peace and joy."
Common Problems
Emotions can destroy relationships, cause disease, a rejection of ourselves, a loss of motivation, a view of ourselves through feelings rather than who we really are, indecision and lead to an inability to take advantage of our life's journey to name a few.
Emotional health and spiritual health go hand in hand as emotions are a gift from God to serve us. They will align with what we think. If our thoughts are not taken captive and redirected through His love for us, we will end up serving our emotions wherever they lead as they can become our god. However, truth shapes profitable emotions and behavior that allows us to love ourselves, others and the life we have been given.