Why Emotion
THE LINE BETWEEN EVERYTHING MATTERS AND NOTHING MATTERS IS RAZOR THIN.
At age 17 I was involved in a jet ski accident that claimed ten of my adult teeth, destroyed my jaw in three spots, and left me gasping on a sand beach; I came within an eyelash of losing my life. Since that moment, it has taken me nearly 20 years of ups and downs to understand fully that everything in life does in fact work for you, not against you, even though in the moment it might not feel this way.
Above all else, I believe we are all seeking to be happy, healthy, and find purpose. Years ago, at a conference I stumbled across a piece of research that altered the way I view the world and understand life: Emotion drives behavior 6x more powerfully than logic. If you’ve ever found yourself engulfed in negative self-talk, saying things such as, “I should have known better” or “how could I be so stupid”, give yourself a break because you’re not dumb, you just neglected the power that your emotions and your thoughts have on your day-to-day behavior.
Emotion impacts all aspects of our life, especially our health and well-being, although it does not get the attention it deserves. The World Health Organization states that 80% of all illnesses are stress related, but there is an operative word that often gets omitted when discussing stress – allowing. My job is stressing me out, my in-laws are driving me crazy, these politicians are making me so mad are all common statements about stress, but they are changed dramatically if you insert the word “I’m allowing” before each of them. Stress isn’t something that asserts itself into our lives, it is something we allow to consume us on a regular basis.
In my case, for the better part of a decade I battled chronic and debilitating foot and ankle pain. I spent thousands of dollars trying to fix the problem, got misdiagnosed multiple times, endured a failed surgery, and drank a lot of alcohol to cope with the pain. Thankfully I eventually solved the problem thanks to thinking radically different and by purchasing a $6 used book on amazon. This book was the catalyst that helped me begin to understand the role that emotion and our thought patterns play in our lives. The physical pain while real, it was a result of negative emotion and thought patterns, not any physical or structural abnormality in my foot. And since reading this book, I’ve been working diligently to build a strong relationship with myself, to better understand my emotions, and share my newfound knowledge with others.
Every day I watch people make the mistake of thinking that physical manifestations will bring them the happiness that they are seeking – I used to be one of these people. Life experience has since taught me that, counter-intuitively, it’s finding the emotion of happiness and joy first that will bring you the manifestations you desire. The good news – you have complete control over this truth and every thought you think.