Emotions a Powerful Drug - How Do You Use Them?

Most of us realize the dangers of illegal drugs. We’ve seen the advertisements where a person compares your brain on drugs to an egg in a frying pan – that’s not a pretty picture to consider. But sometimes we think that drugs are okay for us. This is often true. Prescription drugs which are recommended and supervised by a doctor are certainly going to help us with a variety of conditions. However if prescription drugs are abused or used incorrectly, they can hurt us just as much as illegal drugs. Emotions are the same way. When emotions are ‘used’ correctly, they can help us during happy and even painful times. But when emotions become drugs, that’s when trouble can begin.

Do Emotions Run Your Life?

Humans are creatures of emotions, whether we want to admit it or not. When we are overwhelmed by a certain emotion, it will run our lives like drugs – if we let it. Think about the last time you were celebrating a big achievement. You were probably over the moon with happiness and you didn’t want to think about anything else. But as you were smiling from ear to ear, you might have neglected other parts of your life, which is not a good way to live. Your emotions, while valuable, should not be in complete control of your life as ‘overdosing’ on the emotional ups and downs can be just as damaging as taking pills or injecting a drug.

The Highs of Happiness and Love

Most people relate the ‘high’ of happiness and of love as being a positive part of their lives. And this is true. When you are happy, you feel like you can do anything, be anything, and certainly like you can continue to be happy. This is a good thing. Happiness tends to be infectious, causing us to think only positive thoughts and to only see the good in others. When you are feeling happy, it’s a good idea to enjoy this feeling, even sharing it with others. Take some time to write down in a journal how you feel and why you feel this way. During times when you're feeling less than happy, then you can refer back to this journal and perhaps tap back into this emotional state.

The Lows of Sadness and Anger

On the opposite end of the spectrum, when you are sad or angry, the emotions can begin to affect you in a negative way. When you are not satisfied with your life, you might begin to see everything in your life as hopeless. You might begin to do things which begin to interfere with plans you’ve already made. For example, you might decide to blow a bunch of money at a mall because you’ve feeling down about something which happened at work. However, spending all of that money isn’t good for your budget either. To help deal with the lows of anger and of sadness, you need to step away from them, just for a bit, to gain perspective. Before you do anything to react to these feelings, stop, take ten deep breaths, and write about what you are feeling. This will help you to slow down the response you will have and you will not do anything based on how emotional you are. Once you are calm, then you can take action.

Emotions can be drugs if they are not used properly. Instead of letting emotions run your life, you want to recognize them for what they truly are – opportunities to make decisions. But as with any drug, you want to make positive decisions which help your life not hurt it.