Connection
Between Values and Emotions
There are four primary emotions and each is triggered in response to
the values we most highly cherish. When we live up to our personal
values, we feel glad,
the source of our most treasured emotions joy and happiness. The other
three primary emotions are all negative and triggered when our values
are violated. If we violate our own values by conduct that undermines
them, we feel bad,
guilty or disappointed in ourselves. If someone else violates
our values, especially people that we are not close to, we get mad,
and willing to fight for change.
If we are placed in a situation where we are powerless to protect our
values or enforce them with the people we love and respect, we feel sad,
morose and melancholy.
All other feelings are derivatives or children of these four basic
emotions. All four emotions arise out of either a realization or
violation of our core values. Of the four primary emotions, only is
positive; the other four lead to negative emotions. Since we are
driven to live our life for joy and happiness, there is only one way
to achieve these positive emotions...the realization of our most
important values. Hence, the importance of picking our values well.
The selection of values is important to our joy and happiness in life.
We don't want to set them so high that we can't achieve them or set
them too low as to become meaningless. We need to establish good
values, ones that motivate us to want to achieve them and ones that we
can achieve. Only when we have selected good values and make an effort
to realize them each day will we achieve joy and happiness in our
life.
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Website last updated on 5/10/2010
Copyright ©2005 Charles W. Sooter. All rights reserved.
