Importance of Emotions
Here are a few of the reasons our emotions are important in our lives.
Survival
Nature developed our emotions over millions of years of evolution. As a result,
our emotions have the potential to serve us today as a delicate and
sophisticated internal guidance system. Our emotions alert us when natural human
need is not being met. For example, when we feel lonely, our need for connection
with other people is unmet. When we feel afraid, our need for safety is unmet.
When we feel rejected, it is our need for acceptance which is unmet.
Decision Making
Our emotions are a valuable source of information. Our emotions help us make
decisions. Studies show that when a person's emotional connections are severed
in the brain, he can not make even simple decisions. Why? Because he doesn't
know how he will feel about his choices.
Boundary Setting
When we feel uncomfortable with a person's behavior, our emotions alert us. If
we learn to trust our emotions and feel confident expressing ourselves we can
let the person know we feel uncomfortable as soon as we are aware of our
feeling. This will help us set our boundaries which are necessary to protect our
physical and mental health.
Communication
Our emotions help us communicate with others. Our facial expressions, for
example, can convey a wide range of emotions. If we look sad or hurt, we are
signaling to others that we need their help. If we are verbally skilled we will
be able to express more of our emotional needs and thereby have a better chance
of filling them. If we are effective at listening to the emotional troubles of
others, we are better able to help them feel understood, important and cared
about.
Unity
Our emotions are perhaps the greatest potential source of uniting all members of
the human species. Clearly, our various religious, cultural and political
beliefs have not united us. Far too often, in fact, they have tragically and
even fatally divided us. Emotions, on the other hand, are universal. Charles
Darwin wrote about this years ago in one of his lesser-known books called "The
Expression of Emotion In Man and Animal". The emotions of empathy, compassion,
cooperation, and forgiveness, for instance, all have the potential to unite us
as a species. It seem fair to say that, generally speaking: Beliefs divide us.
Emotions unite us.