18 Nov Happiness is…also experiencing negative emotions
First, from Positive Psychology News Daily – Negative Emotions have a Place in Life
Often times positive psychology can be misconstrued (sometimes apparently without any effort to get it right!) as a movement to eliminate negative emotions like anger, fear, anxiety, embarrassment, and shame. Such an attempt would be ridiculous and counterproductive. Negative emotions are information about our environment and lives. They are intricately entangled in our awareness and empowering for our intelligence. Attempting to not feel emotions is like setting the goal to be less intelligent. Why would anyone do that?
To read more about how negative emotions fit into happiness – click here
Second, from Robert Quinn’s The Lift Blog – Self Regulation and Positive Emotions
I have been reading a book called The Power of a Positive No: Save the Deal, Save the Relationship _ã_ and Still Say No. The book is written by William Ury, one of the cofounders of the Harvard Program on Negotiation. In the book, Ury tells a story about a session he was asked to facilitate between the leaders of Chechnya and Russia. The objective was to end the war between the two countries. The vice president of Chechnya began the session with an attack on the Russian leaders. He accused them of war crimes and indicated they would be tried for their crimes. He then turned to Ury and said; _ã–You Americans have been supporting the Russians in their war crimes! And, what is more, you are violating the rights of self-determination of the people of Puerto Rico!_ã
As vice president continued his attack, Ury_ã_s inclination was predictable: He was filled with negative emotions. After all, he was simply there to help. He felt unjustly attacked, and asked himself, _ã–What do I know about Puerto Rico?_ã He considered his alternatives. He wondered if he should, accept the treatment, respond in kind, or say nothing at all. In considering these three alternatives, he was thinking in a very traditional way. Here we might ask ourselves how we would think in this same situation.
To read more about happiness, positive emotions and self-regulation – click here