So, I am not an overly emotional person. Now, don’t get me wrong, I am not a robot, but I just don’t find most emotions all that useful. The biggest issue I have with them is that they rarely solve problems. If emotions did solve anything I think I would be in favor of them, but 9 times out of 10 it’s just noise. Emotions are also rarely planned out. In other words people generally don’t plan to be angry, or schedule a time to cry, it just comes out, usually uncontrollably. What’s up with that? What this means is that most emotions are irrational and without control. What areas of ones life is it acceptable to be irrational and out of control? No one would recommend this as a proper way to live, yet millions of people claim that it is OK to be emotional. They will make statements like, “Sorry I hit your headlights with a bat, but it’s OK, because I am just an emotional person.”
I have written several blogs that discuss things that are culturally acceptable, but have no support in logic or reason. Emotions, add it to the list. (Warning: Sexist comment imminent)
Wait for it …
The emotional “problem” is never more evident than in women. There I said it. “If momma’s not happy, then nobody is happy.” Why is this acceptable? I have an idea, if mommy ain’t happy, how about momma get happy, or if momma ain’t happy, momma goes somewhere and comes back when she is happy, or better yet, if momma ain’t happy, then momma ain’t happy and don’t put that $#*! on everyone else. Are there emotional men? Of course there are, but like most stereotypes they are based on number of experiences. If I told you that there was a couple talking in the park and one of them was crying uncontrollably, but did not tell you who was crying, based on experience who would you guess was doing the crying? And 9 times out of 10 you’d be right.
My least favorite emotion is anger. When was the last time you got angry and it made the problem go away, or made you feel better. Anger almost always makes the person who is angry feel worse as well as the person they are angry with, it is the one emotion that has the most collateral damage. I also find that most people get angry at things that do not warrant anger. For example, the plane is late (this is especially true in winter when wings need to be de-iced, or there is a blizzard. Really? Are you so concerned about taking off that you are willing to risk death? Trust me, pay attention, EVERY time you are on a plane that is delayed due to weather, at least one person will complain… guaranteed. Here are a list of things that I believe it is OK to be angry at:
- War
- Child abuse (any negative action toward children as far as I am concerned)
- Injustice, including obvious human rights violations (this does not include political rights, such as voting, while sad, not warranted of anger)
- Animal and/or nature cruelty
- Freedom Violations – this is different from human rights as it includes any situation in which a person is forced to do something that causes harm in which they had no possible recourse to do the contrary
- Hugh Jackman (Scrubs reference)
Obviously the above list may not be complete, but I hope you get my point. I see people get angry at the dumbest things, most of which is inconsequential, irrelevant, and completely a waste of time and energy. I just wish emotions helped, at least the negative ones. Obviously laughing, smiling, joy, ecstasy (not the drug) are awesome emotions, but even they can be a problem if not kept under control. Have you ever met someone who was happy ALL the time. Yeah, annoying right? Apple pie is great, at least my mom’s apple pie is great, but apple pie for every meal and every day is not healthy.
Unfortunately we are not Vulcans, we are humans. As humans we are emotional beings. At the end of the day, at least for me, it is about control. Are you in control of your emotions or are they in control of you? If every time you get emotional, you expect everyone to just understand, then that is a YOU problem. No one should expect others to bend to their will or change so that you can be happy. The problem with the saying “If momma ain’t happy then no one is happy” is that it places the burden of solution on everyone, but the person who is not happy. This brings me to my final point. At some point we have been taught that when we are not doing well, than it is someone else’s responsibility to fix it. This is never more evident than in relationships. Here is a tip for happy and healthy relationships: Love the other person and take care of your own emotional crap. Do NOT require the other person to make you happy. Will they make you happy? Of course they will, at least I hope so, but as soon as you get mad at them for not fulfilling their supposed responsibility of making you happy, it is the beginning to the end.
One of my most hated phrases is, “You make me angry!” Here is a fact of life, no one makes you angry. Anger is choice that you have made as a response to a particular situation. I am not saying ignore your partner’s problems, but I am saying do not take responsibility for them, unless they are the direct result of something that you did, i.e., left the seat up (although I am not sure why this is such a big deal. Look. Lower. Sit. How hard is that? But I digress). For example, listening to your partner’s problems is important.
My sister sent me a chapter from a book called, The Twelve Laws of Life. The chapter was called “You cannot motivate anyone else.” The title of the chapter alone made me want to read it. I will most likely get the rest of the book, because of what I have read so far. In this chapter, the author writes “In fact, listening alone may be enough to encourage the person to act!” I love this! Yes, maybe your partner needs to take action, but you can not force them to. You can however, encourage and provide an environment that supports change. Granted, I feel I may be straying from the original topic, so I will end with this: Emotion is good, but only in control, and although your partner may be emotional, you can’t change them, nor can you “fix” them. Let their $#*! be their #*!, and your be yours.
Live long and prosper.
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My last blog was on politics. I hope to rarely if ever write on politics again. But I ended that blog with a commentary on beauty and how it seems to prevent you from having bad jobs. My brother pointed out, (in my opinion, rightfully), that beautiful people also are never seen at the bus stop. Which makes me beg the question: Does poverty reduce beauty? Or are the non-beautiful more likely to be poor? Or both? All I know is that if you are a 10, you ain’t ridin’ the bus. I’m just sayin …
The following comment was sent to me as a response to this blog. I felt others should read it as well:
“I feel compelled to respond to your Feb. 25 blog on emotions. It seems
to me that you confuse emotions and the way people react to their
emotions. For example, shouting, crying, smiling, laughing, or hitting
someone are not emotions, they are actions brought on by emotions.
Controlling one’s actions is generally a good thing. Emotions happen,
and you can’t really control that, as much as you would like to. We can
control how we respond to emotions. One can suppress emotions, which
seems like what you’re advocating. In my experience, suppressed
emotions will always come out one way or the other, usually not in a
good way. I would say that when emotions are expressed and dealt with,
they go away. When they are suppressed, they act like poison, and can
be bad for the person and his/her relationships. Just my two cents.”
You make a lot of sense! I also believe that if you depend on someone for your happiness, the relationship is doomed. I think you have to find the joy within your self and “deal with your own !&%!” as you said so well. 🙂
With regard to “All I know is that if you are a 10, you ain’t ridin’ the bus”…well, I think that’s just because there’s always some guy with a car that will offer a ride to a hot girl….