Emotion Management; How to Supervise and Harmonize Our Emotions for Maximum Performance
by It was undoubtedly a good thing that our forefathers of prehistoric days were a fearful lot-otherwise we might not be here now. But a wise nature did us a good turn by building a rapid response fear mechanism in primitive man-or else he might not have survived. The only trouble is that she was so completely satisfied with her job that she declined to make changes during subsequent ages. The flash of lighting and the roll of thunder terrified the early man. He was beset by danger of every kind. Wild beasts, huge reptiles, poisonous snakes and insects abounded. Eclipses and shooting stars excited his dread. Today, of course, wherever peace prevails, the picture is vastly different. Modern man mastered electricity and made it a faithful servant and friend. Wild animals, except in some areas, no longer occasion alarm.
Society owes a great debt to Sigmund Freud and other psychoanalysts for their persistent exploration of man’s subconscious areas. Thanks , too, are due to the modern psychologists, psychiatrists, entologists, and in particular the parapsychologists, for making important discoveries relating to methods of dealing successfully with fear in all its forms. Experience has proved the advisability of making a five-point approach to any problem that is presented for investigation and treatment. Reason, will, imagination, instinct, emotions-all these factors of the human make-up must be effectively dealt with, we believe, if any habit of a detrimental character is to be changed permanently for the better. Until reason accepts the idea of modifying a habit, the going is bound to be difficult. Unless, for example, a smoker or drinker wants to quit his habit of his own free will, it is a hopeless task, as a rule, to attempt to cure him of his habit. The desire of his wife, his sister, mother mean little. Many a times an ailing person will unconsciously be in position to being cured of his illness because of fears that he might not be able to adjust his life anew , if well, he may also prefer , without realizing the fact, to remain ill in order to be the centre of interest and solicitude, so far as his family and friends are concerned.
Granting , however, that there exists, a sincere desire to quit some habit, or get well, and that the reason is convinced , our next step is to encourage and stimulate the will. To do this, the imagination must be stirred and put to work. At the same time, the instincts must be impartially studied. They are recognized as being an assembly of ever active, inherited, primal urges which are little subject to reason, will or moral considerations. They cannot be destroyed, or greatly modified, but they can be sublimated, as it were, and shifted as to direction by means of emotional influence. Emotions were once described by William James, as being tendencies to feel along characteristics lines. They, too, are primitive impulses, older than the human race, which are alive and vibrate with feeling. They exercise enormous authority, from cradle to grave, over our lives. To harness and drive these five very stubborn, balky, primitive forces towards a definite goal, is by no means an easy task. It takes time, and tact along with understanding and experience to obtain successful results. The work is greatly facilitated by making full use of the relaxation procedure and also by the use of suggestions. It would seem as if the organ and gland present in the human body is possessed of a mind all of its own- an intelligence, racial in character, handed down from prehistoric ages. In authority and control over these minds, there seems to be a superior mind whose function is to supervise and harmonize their work. This superior mind is far wiser than that mind which we call reason, and which gains its knowledge through the five senses. Our higher mental faculty knows by intuition, a strange power that ignores the barriers of space and time.
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