Life doesn’t have to be complicated, although most of us are pretty good at convoluting most if not all parts of our existence. If you take the time to figure out what’s running you, what’s important to you, and how you feel about your daily and lifelong existence, the process can be greatly confusticated by the need to sift through layers of emotions that surround and cover much of what we experience. But it needn’t be all that confusing.
When it comes down to raw, basic feelings, there are only two: Joy and Fear. Our intellect adds nuances, degrees, perspectives, and shades of meaning to pretty much everything in our lives and pops into overdrive when attempting to interpret emotions, but the simple fact is that if you reduce feelings to their core or essence, Joy and Fear are what are left.
“But what about love”, you ask? “Isn’t love the highest emotion?” Love is marvelous, love is great, and most of us seek it, but love is a secondary emotion to the primary emotion of Joy. Is that reduction of place a bad thing? I don’t think so. Think of it this way, many people wonder about love, they wonder if they’re in love, or feeling “real love”, or ever going to be in love. Certainly understanding “love” can be confusing. But it’s supposed to be a good thing, right? Well, whoever doubts or questions whether or not they feel Joy? When something is Joyful your intellect doesn’t even have to be involved, you just know it because you feel it. Joy is pure. If you’re truly in love you know it and can tell it for sure because it brings you Joy. Does that work for you?
And on the dark side (we won’t stay here long) is Fear. Some think anger is a primary emotion, or perhaps hate. Nope, those bad feelings only arise from basic Fear. Fear isn’t good and it’s not likely that feelings of Fear confuse people. Few try to understand too many nuances of hate but clearly it comes from Fear. You’ve likely heard of people trying to “justify anger”, which from the get-go sounds like convolution; pure emotions should need no explanation. Therapists know that if patients or clients present Fear, to look for anger, and if they present anger, to look for Fear. This could be a never-ending cycle except that, without Fear, there’s nothing to be angry about.
Is it simplistic to suggest that our lives are ruled by one primary emotion? It sounds that way, but check yourself out. I’ll bet that most people (how’s that for science?) know right off whether their lives are ruled by Fear or Joy.
Me? I claim Joy as my primary emotion. I’m a grateful guy with plenty to be thankful for. I have much Joy in my life and I enJoy almost every minute. I hope you do, too.