Learn how to Control your Emotions

Most times handling your reaction is just about the most unnatural thing that you can do. It can be done however with a lot of practice and patience. Once you master getting over the urge to react you can win every emotional battle that you will have to go through in life.

It is imperative that you learn how to control your emotions because a negative emotional reaction can cause a troubling situation. I have learned this lesson the hard way because I used to be the type person who would react according to the emotion that I felt rather than using my brain to overcome the situation. My emotions got me into trouble on many occasions. I had to learn that I couldn’t just lash out at the boss even when he was wrong. I had to learn to divorce myself from my emotions when I wanted to handle a situation.

I learned by observing the way that a woman dealt with me on one occasion. I don’t know what in the world was wrong with me that morning but I was rude. My nasty attitude cut her off each time she opened her mouth. She never reacted to my tirade but she just began to be extra nice to me. She wore me down to where I began to be nice to her also. She took the high road that day and won the victory. She was able to divorce herself of the desire to react (which she had a perfect right to do) and handle the situation diplomatically. There is no doubt that the thought of strangling me flashed through her mind but she didn’t follow up on it.

Your attitude will affect the attitude of those around you. If your attitude is bad it will cause others to have a bad attitude towards you. If you are like the woman in this case you may eventually win over the person whom you happen to be interacting with.

Since I deal with the public a lot in my line of work I had to learn how to not allow a negative interaction to taint my interaction with the next customer. Just because person A was unpleasant doesn’t mean that I have to carry that same spirit over to person B. This is one of the biggest problems people face when dealing with their emotions. The average person has a difficult time separating the bad of one event from the good of the following event.

Fear or panic is probably the hardest emotion to control. Once you allow panic to set in you will undoubtedly behave in an irrational manner. The key to controlling fear is to find something to focus your energy on other than the existing situation. I learned this technique while attending the parachutist school while in the military. If you can force yourself to pay attention to something other than the situation which is causing your fears you will overcome the negative situation. The trick here is to maintain that focus over a period of time.

Negative reactions based on past events may cause negative reactions to similar situations. An accident experienced during a particular activity will surely cause adverse feelings whenever you have to engage in that activity again. The best thing to do in a situation such as this is to get right back on the horse and continue to ride.

When people or animals can sense fear it causes them to attack. A predator only needs to sense a weakness to have a reason to attack. The lack or perceived lack of fear will get you through potentially dangerous situations. Get into the habit of controlling your emotions. The benefits of living a life of self control can be plentiful. The Good Life