Why Do People Not Abandon Their Negative Emotions Sooner?

This article is about negative emotions and the common observation that people in general normally do not shy away from negative emotions very quickly, or at all. Why is that?

The topic for today’s blog post is negative emotion. Why is it that people in general normally “embrace” negative emotion, or at least not immediately reject it?

The Importance of Negative Emotions

As I see it, there may be three main reasons for why people in general do not immediately abandon their negative emotions.

The first reason could be that they have not yet recognized the importance of their own emotions. Such a recognition might be of different types.

One type of non-recognition is that they simply are ignorant, in the sense that they have never heard of the Law of Attraction in general, or of the idea that emotions are important (as a guide).

Another type of non-recognition is when they are not ignorant, but simply do not believe in the Law of Attraction philosophy and its principles, or the idea that emotions are important (as a guide).

Too Little Knowledge

A second reason could be that they may have recognized the importance of negative emotions as a guide toward living a better life (as in the first reason), but they don’t know how to practically apply it.

One possibility here is that they have no information at all about how to proceed. And because of that, they cannot escape their negative emotions very easily.

Another possibility is that they may have acquired only a part of the equation that is needed to really get going, in terms of producing results that are beneficial and positive.

Knowledge of the Process (1)

A third reason could be that they may know how to counteract negative emotions, but for one reason or other they still do not do it.

There may be various explanations for this. One is that they are used to feel that way. So it is somewhat of a habit. And the returning negative emotion then is not really “super-bad news” but something along the lines of “a returning buddy” of sorts, albeit an irritating one.

Another reason might be that, when practicing the principles, they catch themselves too late in the process. This means that the negative momentum has had time to increase, and that they then may have experiences various difficulties in getting good results, leading to a “mistrust” or lacking enthusiasm to try again.

This may be extra relevant if the person in question is relatively low on the negativity-positivity spectrum. So for example a “medium negative” N2 individual, or even a “strongly negative” N3 individual, might simply not have enough energy or motivation to pursue this.

Knowledge of the Process (2)

But there could also be other explanations for why they do not practically invoke the “methods” that they know about.

One explanation could be that although they have theoretical knowledge of how to do it, they lack the practical experience. For being able to control one’s emotions is a little bit like learning to ride your bike: it usually takes many hours of hands-on practice until one can find the balance that one seeks.

In fact, one may even say that emotional control is (much) harder than learning to ride a bicycle. This is because it involves a very conscious “steering” of the “rational” part of the brain/mind. So it is not very easy to put in practice.

However, one very important explanation why people do not invoke the methods that they know about, is because of other people. And there are different flavors of that.

So we are then talking about, for instance, empathy, where people feel bad just because other people feel bad. Or when they, for various other “moral” reasons, are trying to “please others” with a behavior that is supposedly giving them “brownie points”, etc.

Conclusion

If one really wants to continue feeling negative emotion, there are lots of ways one might “escape” abandoning those negative emotions.

But is it worth it? Do we really care so little about our own emotional welfare?

The way forward, I propose, is to start caring more about our own emotional affairs, and to very consciously, deliberately try to avoid any longer episodes of negative emotions. That is the path to true happiness and health.

Chris Bocay

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