Unless you're a robot, you have feelings: You feel happy, sad, sorry, angry, excited, or anxious. Sometimes, you're ambivalent, which means that you experience different and perhaps conflicting feelings at the same time. For example, you may be pleased to be going to a ball game, but you also feel anxiuos about an unfinished project that you'll have to tackle when you get home; or you may be happy to be going on a trip, but at the same time you feel sorry to be leaving your family and friends or worried about how you'll cope with the demands of a new environment. Event at this moment, as you read this post, you are probably experiencing a variety of feelings: You might be curious or interested, or bored or confused; or perhaps you're irriated about having to read this or worried about finishing your assignment on time. You might also have feelings that have nothing to do with this task: For instance, you may be tired, hungry, or lonely.
People can't stop feeling any more than they can stop breathing; feelings are part of being human. Because feelings and ideas continually intermesh, our assumptions and expectations about the world affect our feelings and our feelings color the way we see the world.
Thoughts, feelings, actions-what come first? It is impossible to answer this question. Often, a thought may trigger a feeling and an action. For instance, I think about my sick friend and I feel worried or sad; these thoughts ans feelings eventually lead to action: I decide to go to visit him. However, sometimes feelings overshadow thoughts and influence the way we interpret and respond to a situation. For example, if I'm very worried, I may tend to select and focus on the worst symptoms of my friend's illness, not noticing how well he is coping with a diffcult situation. My own anxiety prevents me from seeing that even though he is also worried, at the same time he feels proud of his courage and resourcefulness in facing adversity and pleased with the strengths he has discovered in himself.
Are feelings and thoughts always interlaced? This is another question that has no clear answer. Probably, there are times when factors like the weather or state of our health color our moods, without any specific association with thoughts. Moreover, feelings are also connected to physical sensations and activities. If I'm feeling gloomy, I can sit in a dark room and feel sorry for myself-or I can choose to take a walk, talk to a friend, or do something nice for someone else. Any one of these activities may cheer me up, even though they won't solve every problem or change the world. In any case, no matter what they cause, by recognizing our emotions, we have the opportunity to cope with troublesome feelings more effectively and enjoy and more clearly communicate our positive feelings.
Philosophers, psychologists, and psychiatrists study emotions systematically. As they investigate the meaning, nature, causes, and effects of feelings, these researchers attempt to clarify the intricate connections among them. As you can imagine, there are many ways to examine such a complex topic, so it's not surprising to find that the experts who deal with it may have different points of view. Still, no matter what aproach they take, most people would no doubt agree that it isimportant to become aware of feelings and try to understand them.
