4 Steps to Emotional Wisdom

What is emotional wisdom?

Emotional wisdom is the collective knowledge and experience that result from having lived a life of emotional diversity. You obtain emotional wisdom by learning from past experiences and taking that which you’ve learned into the future with you. It's a give-and-take. You receive the experiences and decide what serves you the best to remember and use in the future.

Our emotions are continually giving us messages about what feels good and what doesn’t, what feels right and what feels wrong, what is acceptable and what isn’t, and the ultimate direction we should be going. Our emotions tell us when things are great, or when they need to be improved.

Let's examine four steps to help you achieve greater emotional wisdom:

1. Listen - A huge part of developing emotional wisdom is in learning how to listen to and interpret the experiences we have. By listening to your emotions, you can gain a wide understanding of what’s going on inside you. What’s going on inside you can affect your physical health and mental well-being, so it pays to listen carefully. Doing so will help you manage stress, which can manifest itself in many negative emotions.

2. Trust - Trust in your ability to feel and be felt, and interpret your emotions accurately. Trust that you can handle whatever emotions come your way - after all, you’re still here, aren’t you? We are all much more capable than we tend to give ourselves credit for, so while you’re listening to your emotions, trust that what you’re hearing is the truth. Never second guess yourself when it comes to feeling. Whatever it is you are feeling is valid and worthy.

3.  Reflect - Your ability to look at your emotions realistically in relation to the situations with which they arise is important in developing your emotional wisdom. Notice I said reflect - not react. As you're listening to your emotions, logically examine whether your emotion matches the situation that it came from. Often, we are used to telling ourselves stories regarding our emotions that simply aren’t true - they are just habits. Therefore, honest reflection is a truly valuable skill to possess.

4.  Adjust - The ability to adjust your emotion to your present situation is a sign of true emotional wisdom. Like anything, this takes practice, but when you learn to properly interpret the messages your emotions send you, you can adjust as necessary.

True emotional wisdom comes from looking within and listening carefully to what we feel to give us clues that help us live healthier, happier, more productive lives. 

Five Ways to Energize Your Life

Human beings must have energy to enjoy and profit from anything we do in life. Some people seem to have an abundance of energy to do anything, while others struggle with every little task they face. There are ways to increase your personal energy and become a vibrant and successful person. I hope you'll find these tips useful.

It’s been said that we’re living right now in the worst energy crisis of all time – the crisis of personal energy. We’re more stressed and pulled in more directions than we’ve ever been and the fast pace we’re expected to meet is depleting our energy levels at a disturbing rate.

Taking care of your personal energy has never been more essential. Doctors say that the number one complaint of their patients is, “I have no energy.” There can be a number of reasons that a person may be suffering from lack of energy, but most of the time it has nothing whatsoever to do with a medical condition.

Chronic low energy is often linked to circumstances such as a difficult or abusive relationship, lack of passion or being a caregiver to a parent or child. Rather than deal with lack of energy by prescribing drugs, many doctors are now more likely to suggest some tools that will help to restore energy levels and help you enjoy their life more.

Here are some tools designed especially to increase your personal energy levels:

·       Do what you’re passionate about. Passion is one of the greatest energy restorers available. You may not be passionate about everything you do, but find something that brings you joy.

·      Take care of yourself. Give yourself breaks when needed. Most people today think they have to keep going long after their energy levels are depleted. Taking care of yourself will help you keep your energy levels high.

·       Know your emotions. Your thoughts drive your emotions and some emotions can just wear us out. When you think positive thoughts, you’re naturally going to have positive emotions and that’s a natural energy booster.

·       Let your values determine your lifestyle. If you don’t live according to your values and react and perform out of guilt and shame, your energy will fade rapidly.

·       Take responsibility for your life. You, and only you, can make the choices that determine whether you will be successful or always floundering just on the precipice of success. Make wise choices when it comes to your well being.

To shift from lack of energy to an abundance of energy, you must tap into the powers that only you hold – to love yourself enough to take care of yourself.

Be blessed and aggressively grateful.