Identify your Perception
Why is your Perception of emotion, in particular, your emotions important?
Your perception of just about any aspect of life will be evident in your actions. It is your viewpoint of the world. If from your standpoint, you believe emotions are to be controlled, the way you handle certain emotions, say anger, might be methodical. Chances are, you have a process to calm yourself down and to channel that anger into something more “productive”. There are some people who find emotions to be a nuisance. They often disengage from conversations with people who talk about their feelings, and likely find it difficult to express their own. Do you know which one you are? Most people fall somewhere in the middle.
Ask yourself:
- Do you think your emotions are important?
- What do you believe to be negative emotions? What do you do when you feel them?
- Which emotions do you consider positive? What happens to you when you experience positive feelings?
Answering these questions should give you some indication of the weight you place on your own emotions. What about the emotions of others?
- How do you feel when talking to someone else about THEIR emotions? Are you uncomfortable?
- Do you try to help other process their own feelings?
- When someone shares about their feelings, can you relate? Do you feel what they feel?
At this point, you should be able to understand your “perception” of emotions, both your own and those of others.
Yes it is possible to place importance on the feelings of others, and think yours are less important, and vice versa. Both indications of different things.
But now that you know, or understand… later, we will determine if there’s something you need to change?