Can We Choose Our Emotions or Do They Just Happen?
Last Updated on December 7, 2022
Emotions are a fundamental aspect of the human experience. They can be intense and overwhelming, or subtle and nuanced.
But are emotions something that we have control over, or are they simply the result of stimuli and our physiology? This question has long been the subject of debate among psychologists, philosophers, and neuroscientists, and the answer is not clear-cut.
On the one hand, it is true that our emotions can be triggered by things that happen to us or things that we experience.
For example, if someone says something hurtful to us, we might feel angry or upset. If we see something that makes us happy, we might feel joy. In these cases, it can feel like our emotions are happening to us, rather than something we have chosen.
However, it is important to remember that our emotions are not just reactions to things that happen to us. They are also a result of the way we think and the way we interpret the world around us. This means that, even though certain events or experiences might trigger our emotions, we have some control over how we respond to those triggers.
For example, if someone says something hurtful to us, we can choose to let it go and not let it affect us, or we can choose to dwell on it and let it make us angry. The same is true for other emotions as well. If we see something that makes us happy, we can choose to let that happiness fill us and make us feel good, or we can choose to dismiss it and not let it affect us.
Imagine your mind as a bustling metropolis with a series of interwoven roads. The buildings in this city represent your thoughts, and the roads and highways connecting them represent the connections between those thoughts.
Your life’s events are like the vehicles traveling along these roads, setting thoughts in motion and determining the path they take. Just like in a real city, the roads in your mind tend to be well-worn and familiar, based on where your thoughts have traveled in the past when faced with similar events.
Over time, these habitual thought patterns can become deeply ingrained, making it difficult to deviate from them. However, just like in a city, you can always choose to take a different road and explore new paths in your mind.
So, while it is true that our emotions can be triggered by things that happen to us, it is also true that we have some control over how we respond to those triggers. This means that, to some extent, we can choose our emotions.
Of course, choosing our emotions is not always easy. We are human, after all, and our emotions can be very powerful. But by being aware of the role our thoughts and interpretations play in our emotional experiences, we can start to take control of our emotions and choose how we want to feel.
In conclusion, while our emotions can be triggered by things that happen to us, we have some control over how we respond to those triggers.
This means that, to some extent, we can choose and control our emotions but there is still a room left for them to control you. By being aware of the role our thoughts and interpretations play in our emotional experiences, we can start to take control of our emotions and choose how we want to feel.
