How Do Emotions Shape Thinking?

As I read through these answers I am blessed to see how many branches of thought are connected to this tree.. wow, such a good question to cause us all to just yield, stop and take a breath. Just where does one begin, to understand the power of emotions.? I wondered about this today Will, for these kind of questions take shape in us as we question what did happen in us, to cause us to think beyond the conditions and programs which powerfully made us.

I think most of us realized somewhere in our pasts that something was not working right, that we missed some part of what it was we needed to shape up! Knowing instinctively, not only had others failed us but that we were also failing those who counted on us in some deep meaningful ways and knowing as well how our behaviors were penetrating and impacting others in some negative ways! Complexes develop in these vulnerabilities, with instability becoming the kingdom! I can say assuredly this recognition takes place in the awareness that somewhere we lost Control! Then to top it off, we made more mistakes trying to correct our first mistake! Oh yeaah, that sounds about right to me...nothing like adding a few extra ribbons and bows to a stick of dynamite.

Those amazing bloppers huh!!! We all have made, have suddenly caused us to Stop, whether it be in guilt, remorse, an evil glee, what ever, but we knew somehow we sold ourselves out on some level. We sold the farm way cheap!!!

And realized it was OUR FARM>... and maybe it was Stolen from us, because we just didnot understand the dynamics of life and became victimized... Well we don't have to remain victims of anything, and there are many things we can empower ourselves with, if we are willing to do some home work.

So, we began to think and wonder how we could stay in touch with our emotional condition so we would not be producing the same fruit again and again! It is good to want to get in touch with our emotional condition to understand how it functions, then the goal becomes one of, trying to harness as you suggest in your question... The best of ourselves while at the same time dismissing the worst!"

We all sooner or later awake into knowing that we all were conditioned and programmed to conditions by our parents, through ages of generational patterns handed down throughout the ages. Often we take the best, for in healthy upbringings the worst has been rooted out in those who lived in blessed generations... but not all have had those wondrous gardens where blessings were bestowed, so many have tags alongs of poor patterns of thinking imparted. Oh boy Will, a can of worms hey? These shadows can be so powerful if we don't wake up and realize, what was imparted... So this is one understanding any one of us can question, is just what were our parental patterns, then ask ourselves, to separate, sort, keeping the positive ones, more or less, keeping the baby and throwing out the dirty bathe water!

Once we understand how emotions affect us bodily, we gain some additional information, for even our state of health effects our emotional well being, so being in good health helps. Knowing the lingo, and how the dance of this jive works seems to give us the dance steps too! So Will we see educating ourselves is a step into paradise. Understanding more of the dynamics teaches us, how our emotions are aroused, how our body reacts, knowing just how we all resort to our adaptive behaviorism! We resort to behaviors such as fleeing, seeking comfort, helping others, and reproducing whatever has been mostly programmed in us since birth.There are eight primary emotions; fear, surprise, sadness, disgust, anger, joy and trust.

Okay the biggie part of this is obtaining Emotional freedom... for we all wanna be free from that which hinders us from obtaining great energy. Which to me is pureness, so how do we, get to those great "i love Yous" from the fields of those hateful tones... of "You make me sick, you toxic...yada, yada!" (giggles)) well it is true! haha...( I am only hewman Will)

Words enhance us, so choosing with care how we speak, listening to our own tonal value, so we create tones which create aura's of positive energy... rather than negative energy. By paying close attention to this and having good manners certainly creates and passes healings forward. Oh yesssssssssssss Will we can harness the power of our intentions... letting these pass over onto others creating beauty. We might have to first allow the light of all of this in us grow, so we are enabled to pass this positivity in outbound directions. Beginning in us, to be the heart we want to see comes to heart and mind here. Emptying ourselves of our own negative patterns, granting ourselves permission to open the gateways of our minds so new information can enter through to rest and settle into our heartlands.

Intellectual acumen creates in us the ability to act in an intelligent and capable manner. We handle matters with grace as we develop expertise. We need to exercise ourselves and practice! Live by example! For if we challenge ourselves within in matters of complexity we will acquire skills which allow us to comfortably decipher road conditions ahead, we will drive better as we assimilate new skills. Headline newsflash, this happens in those of us who truly desire new levels of achievement , who want to rise above the low standards we see everywhere. We envision how it can be, and in doing so, we become known as one of those who is a Powerhouse of intelligence and wisdom. There is much we can learn from self development courses, and from many belief systems which encompass much in the positive realms! Deciding to choose the good, and eat that which is good to eat. Knowing our own emotional reactions Will, can stimulate us, to learn how to effectively stimulate others enhancing lives rather than detracting life from others.

Maybe one of the best gifts we can gift ourselves with, is knowing we can be freed from negative patterns.. understanding we have the personal power to rule ourselves. Knowing simply we can place within the frameworks of our lives... new systems which are incorporated into our family dynamics.. so that our generations to come rise up and bless us as in how they bless others... Surely dear heart, we can accomplish much if we utilize the powerful energies we have been given, to powerhouse others positively...

I thank you for this splendid walk into How emotions shape our thinking... I always walk away feeling promoted.... LOL...

and it is good to brake, stop and share the bread and commune with you. Hugs and God bless you too... Passing down the blessings of life can stop the curse of those generations of thinking patterns which cursed many souls... We can be wonderfully lifted here.. love to you this day and all days... ((hugs))

The most significant power that has caused me overall to question my emotional state, is the love of God... and in 1Cor. 13... is the best description of having control ... also.. in Gal 5.. we see the fruits of the Spirit displayed ~ also a beautiful reminder dear Will, that indeed we can Master out emotional life, and shape our thinking in God.. and by this life source of wisdom, and power... and for me this is found in Christ..

Lovingly

Kar

Impeccable answers by She Dances With Love, John M and Mike.

I don't think I'm sufficiently informed to answer this question so I'll just say that it's all about what kinda world you were brought up in. There is very little one can do to 'promote intellectual character' ...one must have a solid base to walk on this path. If a child develops a habit of listening and learning at an early age, his or her intellectual character will keep on improving as if it's a natural process. Emotions start shaping up at a very early age, when we have less or no control over our lives.

Emotions can give you an incredible bias. For example - you might "feel" like you need something, when in reality you don't actually need it (think of an average American at the mall). They might think "I worked over time last week, I've been stressed, this item will make me happy" - when in reality their money should be going to their past due credit card bills or other debt. Then they wonder why they have no money over time....

To harness the power of emotion takes an incredible amount of self control, something most people don't have. It takes constant thinking and self realization to overcome your emotions. If you do something destructive to feel better about yourself and always fall into the same routine, why do you do this behavior to begin with? Most people don't like to face their problems, so they would rather ignore those issues because the emotional attachment is difficult to deal with. Some people can say what their problems are (i.e. "I drink too much"), only because this is what society has taught them to say. They don't realize they have a problem, but they have learned what to say in order to still be accepted in our society. An alcoholic can say "I'm an alcoholic", and it seems like they are on the right path so our society standards says that’s ok, but until they change their behavior, they can say that 10,000 times and it'll mean **** every single time.

People who make emotional decisions are the same people who seem unplanned - people who just go through life and wonder why things always go bad for them, when in reality their emotional (and usually unwise) decisions are to blame. But they'll never admit they were wrong or made a mistake.

I don’t want to sound cold hearted, but I think decisions should be 80% logic and 20% emotion. I consistently find myself tempted to make an emotional decision, such as at the mall when I find something I like. That’s when I put it on hold, go home and look over my bank account. If I can afford it, I go back the next day (or same day) and buy it. 9 times out of 10 that item is placed back on the shelves.

Thinking that emotions are needed to come up with a solution is not reality. The fact that emotions are beliefs as to how we react towards a situation and say that is a proper reaction is wrong. Not everyone reacts the same way. Ever see an accident and how the people all reacted differently? It does not shape our thinking it can however control it. Everyone knows there was an accident what you do is your emotions telling you how to react. Cry or help. Give aid or call help. Stand and laugh at the guy who fell. Pick up the guy who fell. Cry that he fell. Get the point? The truth is someone needs help do you walk away, ignore it, help or do nothing, just watch idly by. They all used emotion to decide. The fact is he needed help why did you not help?

I believe emotions are whats needed for us to be able to make the choices we make in our lives. Our most common mistake is in reacting to an emotion without thinking through why and where the emotion came from before determining what to do. without emotions we would all be robotic, so the emotion is behind all we do and why we do it, it is the reason. so yes it does shape our thinking always as it should, but we dont appreciate that we have this ability, we fail to use it and in that is where bad choices are made. Emotions are to bring forth a reaction to what is going on with us, but also we must remember it is not to be use to react immediately, it is to make us step back and reflect on to give us the best chance at making good decisions

Intellect is bad to showcase, showcasing it means it is not intellect the person has, society will never cope with overly smart people. Overly dramatic themes like this get people tagged :p seriously...

emotion will blind your reason, emotion is good for drawing and music though. whatever way you look emotion is a sharp blade, reason is a shield that will push on.

of the two i would rather not cut others with my emotion, so reason the shield is a better choice :)

and its not like favoring reason is bad, but i guess I will tend to follow the stereotype and say that emotions are girly :p

Emotions can be our best friend and worst enemy at the same time, they allow us to care and express love both to ourselves and others. They can also lead us down the road of doubt, fear, anger and resentment. The key is to remember that all things, at there core, are energy and like all energy, the positive and negative must be brought into balance for the power of emotions to be fully and intellectually realized.

Our emotions have projective power over our thoughts. They act as filters to form our desires, furnish our capacities, and to a large extent rule our immediate thoughts. As we encounter fresh situations, become faced with novel problems, or grapple with new ideas; our emotional response to each of these sets in motion the initial allocation of our mental resources. In essence, our first "read" of a new situation is always centered in our emotions, feelings, and attitudes . As such, our emotions are laying the groundwork for the thinking that is to come.

This rule of "emotion before thought" is actually quite adaptive. It allows us to act on instinct and initial impressions when we are threatened or in danger. Our emotion provides us with an immediate reaction when there isn’t time to think. In addition, our emotions can direct our thoughts long-term. When we feel empathy for another’s plight, our emotion may help us to direct our energies to doing something about the situation. When we feel joy upon discovering a new idea, our emotion may motivate us to make our discovery accessible to others. Our emotions act as magnets to either pull us into action or channel our energies in a particular direction. Our emotions are also and important means by which we evaluate situations and make decisions about what is appropriate in given situation .

Our emotions often tell us the opposite of our rationale.

Example: A woman is attracted to man. She thinks it through and concludes that because he has no job, no ambitions, essentially no future, she shouldn't get involved with him. But because of other factors such as status, looks, personality, etc. she can't help but be attracted to him. She can understand that she shouldn't be attracted to him but she can't help it.

Emotions don't necessarily shape our thinking, but they can cause us to make irrational decisions, in this case the womans emotions could cause her to pursue the man.

This is just one example I made up, but you can see how our thinking is not necessarily affected by our emotions, but our actions can be.

However emotions could cause you to be bias in certain decisions.

Example: You prefer one t.v. show over another, maybe because you watched it as a child or someone you look up to likes it, like a family member. Even if the other show is "better", you can convince yourself it isn't because you want your preferred show to be better.

I believe that with will power you can overcome faults such as these.

Emotions are the 'vehicle' in which we interpret the world around us. Depending on how we react emotionally, that will paint a picture of how we see and react to certain events due to our past experiences and conditioning.

I think that our emotions affect or shape our thinking when we subconsciously think about how we feel at that moment.

But we can choose to allow our thoughts to take care of our emotions. For example when we feel tired, we can choose to think empowering thoughts. Hence, the Bible says, "Let the weak say I am strong." When we feel weak (and it is ok to feel weak as we are human beings), we can choose to think positively, and boldly declare by faith that we are strong. We can create a bright future by thinking and speaking words of faith.

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The following is an excerpt from Joel Osteen's blog:

"We all have times when we wake up in the morning and feel the blahs and blues; we don't feel very excited. But just because we feel those emotions doesn't mean we have to stay there and give in to them; we can shake it off and move forward in faith relying on God's strength.

A great example of someone in the Bible who had a lot of experience in shaking off negative emotions is David. He had to fight being moody, and he was the King of Israel. He had all kinds of opportunity, power and position. He was wealthy, and yet, he still struggled with being depressed and discouraged. That tells me that having to choose to rule over negative feelings is something every person has to deal with. Don't think you're alone if you feel this way. Turn to God and His hope. Don't think, "If I just had more money, if I had a better job, if I had a different spouse, then I'd be in a good mood, Joel. Then I wouldn't have to deal with these feelings." No, you may think that, but every person has to fight the temptation to just give in and live by how we feel."

http://www.joelosteen.com/HopeForToday/ThoughtsOn/...

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The following is written by Ernest Holmes (from "Creative Mind and Success")

"IT is easy for the average person to see how it is that mind can control, and to a certain extent govern, the functions of the body. Some can go even further than this and see that the body is governed entirely by consciousness. This they can see without much difficulty, but it is not so easy for them to see how it is that thought governs their conditions and decides whether they are to be successes or failures.

Here we will stop to ask the question: If our conditions are not controlled by thought, by what, then, are they controlled? Some will say that conditions are controlled by circumstances. But what are circumstances? Are they cause or are they effect? Of course they are always effect; everything that we see is an effect. An effect is something that follows cause, and we are dealing with causation only; effects do not make themselves, but they are held in place by mind, not by causation.

If this does not answer your thought, begin over again and realize that behind everything that is seen is the silent cause. In your life you are that cause. There is nothing but mind, and nothing moves except as mind moves it. We have agreed that while God is love, yet your life is governed absolutely by mind, or law. In our lives of conditions we are the cause, and nothing moves except as our mind moves it.

The activity of our mind is thought. We are always acting because we are always thinking. At all times we are either drawing things to us or we are pushing them away from us. In the ordinary individual this process goes on without his ever knowing it consciously, but ignorance of the law will excuse no one from its effects."

http://self-improvement-ebooks.com/books/cmas.php

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Charles Nieman once said that faith is believing and speaking. "We believe, therefore we speak." Belief or faith has to do with our thought processes. It constitutes the spirit of faith.

Faith is a spirit. Thoughts are spirits. Words are also spirit. Jesus said, "My words are Spirit and they are life."

Like emotions, thoughts and words also produce energy. We can harness our emotional energy to promote intellectual character by first filling our consciousness with positive promises of God.

When we align our minds with God's mind, and declare we have the mind of Christ, we will walk in His power and love and wisdom. "For God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind." (2 Timothy 1:6-7)

The electrical energy in our minds can be transformed into sound energy when we speak out our thoughts as positive confessions of faith, and that sound energy will affect the other spirits in this world, and change the circumstances for our good. "Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession (of our righteousness in Christ, entering into rest in His finished work)". (Hebrews 4:10-14)