I was pleasantly surprised by how good this book was considering it was part of kindle unlimited's free book lineup. No, its not perfect but it gave me a few good ideas about emotions.
3 Things that I took away from this book.
1. We have to be aware of our emotions.
Often times, most of us go through life not being aware of how we're feeling. Worse, some of us might even resist and deny what we feel. I can certainly say that I have at some point in my life. We try to suppress the bad and expect to feel good feelings all the time as if we were perfect. Our emotions are merely a signal that something within us is wrong. Our job is to identify it, and find out its source because it is in our interpretation that we are compelled to act.
2. Emotions are neither good or bad.
We are not supposed to be happy all the time. The reason why the pharmaceutical industry cashes in so much on emotional suppression medications is because we want to feel good all the time. This is not to deny the existence of real, diagnosed mental health issues but to emphasize that there are good and bad ways of coping. It is in the coping that most people find themselves in trouble. We can use destructive ways like food, drugs or alcohol or we can choose to channel it by helping another person in need.
3. Take accountability and responsibility of your emotions.
A quote that really hit me was "Self-acceptance is the basis upon which self-esteem develops." For the longest time I have tried to deny my emotions as if it was something to be avoided. When I used to feel lonely I would just use food as a coping mechanism. The more I denied it the more my self-esteem suffered. It was as if I had 2 people inside me fighting for control. Here I was in a limbo where I want both choices but can't seem to make one. We are all free to make mistakes and its ok to feel regret about our choices. Regret is a feeling most people avoid. But regret is actually powerful because it makes us want to redeem ourselves. It is only our ego that refuses to see that emotions are natural and it is to be accepted. That is why we have to choose the best way to express it. It can be positive or negative but we have to take accountability for past emotions and take responsibility for future ones.
Overall I would highly recommend this book to those who are wanting to understand their emotions better.
